We all know about the Giants and Jerry Brown, but this Saturday Silicon Valley will announce a new groups of winners, who may have an even greater impact on California and the world for many years to come.
The Tech Museum of Innovation‘s annual Tech Awards will be given out to the most important innovators in five categories: Environment, Economic Development, Education, Equality, and Health. The highlight of the evening, however, will be the sixth award, the James C. Morgan Global Humanitarian Award.
This year’s winner, Queen Rania of Jordan, will be joining a notable group of recipients, including Al Gore, Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunnus (founder of the Grameen Bank that provides microloans to the indigent), and Bill Gates.
The Global Humanitarian Award is named for the Chairman of Applied Materials, Jim Morgan, who was the first recipient of the prize. This year’s laureate, Queen Rania, has long been an advocate for children’s causes through UNICEF, UNGEI (United Nations Girls Education Initiative), and the Jordan River Foundation.
“In a world gripped by economic crisis, conflict and contagious disease, education can be a path to growth, a boost to public health and a stepping stone toward peace,” says the queen, who calls education, “the best investment we can make to help people lift themselves out of poverty.”
Three laureates will be named for each of the remaining categories, with one laureate receiving a cash prize of $50,000 along with the title. Each category is sponsored by a large company or foundation. Intel, for instance, lends its name to the Environment Award, an appropriate match since Intel was just named by the EPA as the American company that obtains the greatest amount of electricity from renewable sources.
Read More at NBC Bay Area.
Read More at the Tech Awards website.
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