2019 Clarence B. Jones Impact Award Nominations

The Clarence B. Jones Impact Award honors the game-changing effect of smart, strategic communications. It is given by The Communications Network annually to an individual, team, or group whose work best represents the extraordinary impact of our craft.

We aim to showcase effective communications in our sector so that others may learn from it and invest more deeply in the transformative power of communications for good. By drawing attention to the best our field has to offer, we hope to offer evidence and models of what strategic communications for good can accomplish.

Any social sector individual, team, or organization is eligible to win. Size and budget don't matter—we're looking for examples of strategic communications campaigns that were innovative and impactful, regardless of the resources available to them. Self-nominations are permitted.

A successful nominee will show strategic communications efforts that have elevated an issue, influenced attitudes, and/or inspired action in ways that are measurable. There is no specific timespan for this work, it may have occurred over weeks, months, or even years.

Preference will be shown to nominees whose work exhibits:

Significance: The nominee's work addresses an issue that is critical to improving lives.
Effectiveness: The nominee has been highly effective in achieving positive change. Their work has a measurable record of accomplishment.
Innovation: The nominee is advancing an innovative strategy that directly improves people's lives. The work represents a leap in creativity or a fundamental departure from usual practice.
Field leadership: The nominee has demonstrated an interest in sharing his or her model within the field for possible replication.

What does that look like in action? Our inaugural Jones Award winner was Truth Initiative, who won for their years-long, data-driven, iterative campaign against Big Tobacco that played a major role in helping teen smoking rates drop from almost 25% in 2000 to less than 6% in 2018.

Applications will be accepted until 11:59 PM ET on Sunday, March 31, 2019. Award winner(s) will be announced in July and will be honored at ComNet19 in Austin.

This year, the award is open to anybody, regardless of membership in The Communications Network. We also did away with our application fee and reference requirements to make the process as easy as possible for our nominators. We will also introduce a voting element to the judging process in 2019. Network members will have the opportunity to express their choice from a list of finalists.

Dr. Clarence B. Jones is an American hero and self-described “old lion” of the Civil Rights Movement. He served as political advisor, counsel, and draft speechwriter for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and was also a successful attorney, entrepreneur, and investment banker. Currently affiliated with the University of San Francisco and Stanford, he continues to educate and inspire, as well as write and speak widely. An enthusiastic and engaged member of The Communications Network, Dr. Jones attends ComNet each year and is an active member of ComNetworkSF. He is generous with his time and intellect whenever The Network comes calling. His entire career has been about impact.