Ten Outstanding Young People
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Every year JCI Belgium recognizes individuals between the ages of 18 to 40 for their outstanding contribution towards the betterment of society through the Ten Outstanding Young Persons (TOYP) Awards program. This international awards program celebrates promising individuals who, by way of their artistic, academic, technological skill or by means of their entrepreneurial, environmental, moral leadership and human rights activism have made a sustainable positive impact in our communities.
History of JCI TOYP
The original program of TOYP was developed by Durwood Howes, President of The United States Junior Chamber of Commerce during 1930 – 1931. He conceived the idea of recognizing outstanding individuals by publishing a yearbook entitled “America’s Young Men” which highlighted the work of twelve exemplary leaders each year. The United States Junior Chamber officially adopted the program in 1938. Since 1952, numerous JCI National Organizations have established their own Outstanding Young Persons Programs. In 1983, JCI officially adopted the JCI Ten Outstanding Persons of the World Program. Since then JCI has honored hundreds individuals from more than 50 nations as well as JCI Belgium with this 2020 edition.
General rules
- Nominees must between the ages of 18 and 40 year
- Nominees must be Belgian or have lived for at least 10 years and are planning to stay in Belgium for the next 5 years,
- Nominees do not have to be members of JCI Belgium, as long as they meet the previous two requirements and register through a JCI Local Organization. So anyone including friends, family and colleagues can be nominated.
- Nominees must be willing to promote the ideals of JCI for the year after winning the award.
- Following submission, the nominee shall receive a copy of the nomination form from the Awards committee to verify that the details and facts contained in the form are correct and provide consent for his/her details to be published for public viewing.
- Photographs, audiotapes, videos can be used during the judging process for certain categories & as proof of the nominee’s work.
- Each nominee must be entered in one (and only one) of the following ten categories:
- Business, economic and/or entrepreneurial accomplishment
- Political, legal and/or governmental affairs
- Academic leadership and/or accomplishment
- Cultural achievement
- Moral and/or environmental leadership
- Contribution to children, world peace and/or human rights
- Humanitarian and/or voluntary leadership
- Scientific and/or technological development
- Personal improvement and/or accomplishment
- Medical innovation
Judging process
After the deadline for submitting nominations has expired, all nominations will be screened by the board of JCI Belgium. The boardmembers will be asked to base their decisions on three general criteria:
- How well the nominee exemplifies the principles of the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) and JCI Values
- How the person’s achievement may have benefited his or her community or even nation
- How the person’s achievement or leadership may have inspired others.
- Judges will select the top ten finalists (regardless of the category!) by assigning 10 points to the top candidate, 9 to the first-runner-up, 8 to the third-runner-up and so on. The nominees with the most cumulative points will be recognized as the honorees and a maximum of 10 honorees will be awarded.