NEW YORK — Brought to you by the Webby Awards (https://www.webbyawards.com), the Anthem Awards (https://www.anthemawards.com), honors the purpose and mission-driven work of people, companies, and organizations worldwide. By amplifying the voices that spark global change, it defines a new benchmark for impactful work that inspires others to take action in their own communities.
Over the past 20 years, we have witnessed a massive culture shift where humans worldwide have led and organized in new ways to build a more purpose-driven society. More than ever, people live their values and make active choices around the local and global impact of their daily actions — including the food they eat, the media they consume, the clothing they wear, the causes they support, and how they choose to spend their money.
Media personality and technology maven Shefik (https://shefik.info) has been named an official judge for the Inaugural Anthem Awards, where he served alongside a panel of esteemed judges, from companies such as ViacomCBS, Google, FOX Entertainment, Hearst, The New York Times, PBS, The Oprah Winfrey Charitable Foundation, National Geographic Partners, New York University (NYU), and Mozilla (https://www.anthemawards.com/judges/). Anthem Awards is honored to present its very first Special Achievement awards to a group of individuals, who have leveraged their renown to bring attention to some of the most important issues of our time.
The Inaugural Anthem Awards is humbled to honor Dr. Jane Goodall (https://janegoodall.org) with a 2022 Anthem Lifetime Achievement Award to recognize her lifetime of passionate advocacy for the conservation of the natural world, her ground-breaking research into wild chimpanzees, and the establishment of the Jane Goodall Institute with its pioneering TACARE program, plus the youth-focused Roots & Shoots program.
The Inaugural Anthem Awards is also thrilled to honor Adam McKay (https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0570912/) with a 2022 Anthem Entertainer of the Year Award in recognition of his directorial and script-writing talents, and most importantly in recognition of the mirror he frequently holds up to society through his work, and the messages that compels us to hear.
Additionally, the Inaugural Anthem Awards honors Naomi Osaka (https://www.naomiosaka.com) with a 2022 Anthem Athlete of the Year Award for her leadership and courage, setting an example for the world by defending her own health. She is a force for change in society today.
With nearly 2,500 submissions from 36 countries around the world and 10,000 reviews from the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (IADAS), the finalists of the Inaugural Anthem Awards were announced on January 25, 2022. Winners were announced on February 15, 2022, and they will be celebrated at the 1st Annual Anthem Voices virtual conference, as well as at a star-studded virtual awards show on Monday, February 28, 2022. Fans will be able to watch the virtual show on-demand, featuring special moments and hallmark speeches from all the winners at https://www.anthemawards.com, from 4 p.m. ET to 5 p.m. ET.
In advance of the star-studded ceremony, on February 28th, from 10 a.m. ET to 4 p.m. ET, winners will convene together for Anthem Voices — a first of its kind virtual conference, featuring fireside chats from winners, including Monica Lewinsky (The Epidemic), Reshma Saujani (The Marshall Plan for Moms), David Heath (Co-Founder and CEO, Bombas), and Michele L. Jawando (Senior Vice President of Programs, Omidyar Network), along with presentations from over 50 social impact leaders and activists from the non-profit, business, entertainment, sports, and advertising industries on one stage to share their efforts to make an impact on society. Tickets to the conference are on sale now at https://www.anthemawards.com. Shefik will be live-tweeting highlights of this special event at his Twitter account @shefik_info, under the hashtag #AnthemVoices.
"It's a tremendous honor to host the 1st Annual Anthem Awards," says Jay Ellis, host of the Inaugural Anthem Awards. "As we enter the third year of a global pandemic that heightened serious disparities around the world, this important award presents an opportunity to celebrate work that has had real impact from industry leaders making a difference in their communities and globally."
This year's winners include HBO Max, UN Foundation, NAACP, Al Jazeera Digital, The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation, Mother Jones, National Women's Law Center, The Asian American Foundation, American Red Cross, Mark Ruffalo's Solutions Project, Daymond John's Black Entrepreneurs Day, and "The Daily Show with Trevor Noah". The complete list of winners can be viewed at https://www.anthemawards.com/winners/.
"It is our distinct honor to recognize the work that brands, organizations, and individuals are all making to create an impact in their community. We launched this platform to show the world that all corners of our culture, from sports and entertainment to business leaders and celebrities, are all standing up to say, it is time for systemic change and that social good is what we value as a society," says Jessica Lauretti, Managing Director at Anthem Awards.
"I am deeply honored to serve as a judge for the Inaugural Anthem Awards," adds Shefik. "It is vital that we continue to strive towards defining and refining respectable values for society — values that live up to ideals of accountability and acceptability."
Join Shefik and the entire Anthem Awards team, in igniting the spark to encourage all humans to make a substantive and positive change in the world.
About Shefik
Celebrating over 20 years in the entertainment and technology industries, Shefik (https://shefik.info) is an accomplished industry insider, who has appeared on MTV, SiriusXM, PBS, BET, network television, and in print media, as well as internationally on TRT World (Turkey). He has held senior-level positions at many Fortune 500 companies and celebrated brands, including IBM, NBCUniversal, MTV World, Merck, Merriam-Webster, and Wolters Kluwer. A seasoned pro in social media with a career background as a Lead Architect and Senior Web Developer, Shefik is on the cutting edge of new media. As a videographer and producer, his work has been featured in television broadcasts and video productions for NBC's "3rd Hour of TODAY", TIME magazine, The Washington Center, TV One's "Unsung", and Broadway World. Additionally, his photography has been featured in print and online publications, such as The Independent (United Kingdom), Daily Mail (United Kingdom), Harvard Kennedy School Magazine, Playbill, and China Press, as well as around 100 television and radio outlets owned by Cox Media Group. He is currently the Executive Producer and Host of the nationally syndicated radio show "Shefik presents Invocation" (https://invocation.co), which is broadcast on 23 terrestrial radio stations and frequencies throughout the United States, as well as the internationally syndicated video series of the same name, via Amazon and other notable outlets.
Last Updated: November 25, 2023
