Inaugural Workplace Kindness Awards
Be Part of the Movement Redefining the Future of Work
Join leading CEOs, CHROs, founders, media leaders, and culture innovators in New York City for the inaugural Workplace Kindness Awards — celebrating the organizations proving that kindness drives extraordinary performance, retention, innovation, and impact.
CEO Gary Vaynerchuk’s #2
Bestselling Author of Be Yourself at Work
Award Categories
I. Organizational Awards (Annual)
Recognizing companies embedding kindness into the fabric of how they operate.
Under 1,000 employees. Recognizes a small or mid-size organization that has built a workplace where kindness, humanity, and respect are core to how people work together and succeed.
1,000+ employees or multinational · Annual
Recognizes a large or multinational organization that has embedded kindness into leadership, culture, and operations at scale, whether that means thousands of employees, teams spread across regions, or both. Proving that size and complexity don't have to cost you the human touch.
Companies under 3 years old. Recognizes an early-stage company intentionally building a culture of kindness and humanity from the very beginning of its journey.
II. Leadership Awards (Annual)
Celebrating individuals who lead with empathy, humanity, and courage. Kindness lives at every level — and these awards prove it.
Recognizes a CEO who has made kindness a defining principle of how they lead — shaping culture, decisions, and the employee experience from the very top.
Honors a C-suite or senior executive championing human-centered leadership inside a complex organization. Navigating boardrooms and budgets while keeping people first.
Recognizes a people leader who has created an exceptional team culture built on empathy, support, and psychological safety. This is where kindness is felt most directly, every single day.
Celebrates a team member at any level who consistently demonstrates compassion, support, and humanity in everyday workplace interactions. You don't need a title to lead with kindness.
III. Special Recognition Awards (Rotating)
Honoring unique stories, contexts, and communities. These awards rotate — 2–3 are selected each year to keep the ceremony fresh and create anticipation.
Recognizes a founder whose lived experience and leadership are expanding what kindness in business looks like. Honors founders from historically underrepresented communities who are building organizations where equity, humanity, and belonging are foundational.
Recognizes a family-owned organization that has built a culture of care, trust, and responsibility — demonstrating that values-driven leadership can sustain both people and business across generations.
Honors a non-profit or NGO (Non-Governmental Organization) that exemplifies extraordinary compassion, humanity, and care in how they serve communities and support their teams.
Recognizes an emerging leader within the first 10 years of their career who is redefining leadership through empathy, inclusion, and human connection.
Individuals Making Impact in Workplaces · Rotating
Recognizes individuals making an impact on workplaces through intentional acts of kindness, or by building the systems that let kindness flourish. The podcasters, authors, coaches, board members, and volunteers whose work moves the movement forward without a company behind them. One person, real reach.
IV. Impact Awards (Rotating)
Recognizing specific practices, transformations, and community impact. These awards celebrate what organizations do, not just who they are.
Recognizes a specific practice, policy, or program that represents a creative breakthrough in workplace kindness.
Honors an organization or leader that went through a difficult period and made a genuine, measurable transformation toward kindness. The journey matters more than being perfect.
Recognizes any organization — for-profit or non-profit — whose kindness extends meaningfully beyond their walls into their community.
Nominate an organization consistently leading with kindness or known for innovations in kindness for the Inaugural Workplace Kindness Awards, taking place Thursday, November 12, 2026 at Nasdaq MarketSite, New York City.
Self-nominations are valid and encouraged. Once nominated, we will confirm the organization's interest and send them an application for more detail.
Workplace Kindness Award Nomination (Optional & Encouraged)
Recognize an organization or leader doing outstanding work. Self-nominations are valid and encouraged.