On behalf of Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs, the Office of Commercial and Business Affairs is soliciting public input for recommendations for the 2024 Secretary of State's Award for Corporate Excellence (ACE). Now in its 25th year, the ACE honors U.S. companies who exemplify American values, the American brand, and the positive impact U.S. enterprises can have on local communities worldwide. Recommendations are due to U.S. embassies and consulates by March 17, 2024.
The 2024 ACE categories are:
Award for Corporate Excellence in Innovation to Strengthen Communities
- This category honors companies that promote social welfare in countries where they operate through innovative solutions addressing critical issues like digital inclusion, healthcare, education, combatting food insecurity, and building sustainable infrastructure. Candidate companies are finding innovative solutions that provide affordable access to digital technology and internet connectivity, improve healthcare accessibility and quality, increase access to quality education, promote sustainable agriculture practices, and build sustainable infrastructure projects, particularly in underserved areas and populations.
Award for Corporate Excellence in Women's Economic Security
- This category honors companies that are committed to supporting women's economic security through its values, strategies, policies and procedures, and operational practices. Candidate companies excelling in this field enact organizational strategies that provide training programs for women in entrepreneurship or sectors where women are traditionally underrepresented. Such activities may include investment in women-owned businesses, implementation of policies that advance worker rights in their supply chains, support for domestic and care workers and championing women's professional advancement and empowerment in corporate environments, labor unions, and international negotiations.
Award for Corporate Excellence in Climate Resilience
- This category honors companies that havedemonstrated leadership in building resilience to climate change impacts, such as flooding, drought, sea level rise, and heat waves. Candidate companies are taking proactive and innovative actions to manage the risks and opportunities associated with climate change impacts in alignment with the President's Emergency Plan for Adaptation and Resilience (PREPARE) . Candidate companies excelling in this field invest in climate-smart technologies, develop adaptive management strategies that incorporate climate risk into decision-making processes, build resilience across the entire value chain, and/or promote ecosystem- and nature-based adaptation.
Details on Submitting a Recommendation
ACE nominations should focus on the company's exemplary operations in a specific country and are officially submitted by Chiefs of Mission from U.S. embassies and consulates. Recommendations should be directed to a specific U.S embassy or consulate, for the operations of a U.S. firm in that country.
Stakeholders should contact the embassy or consulate switchboard during normal business hours and ask to speak with the economic section regarding the ACE. Contact information can be obtained on the website of the respective embassy or consulate, a directory of which can be found at www.usembassy.gov. Chiefs of Mission will ultimately decide which recommendations to submit as nominations to the Secretary of State and retain final decision-making on such matters. Stakeholders are asked to put forward recommendations to embassies and consulates for their consideration and should refrain from lobbying for a particular recommendation once submitted.
Compelling recommendations will include proof of positive impact, particularly with metrics when available, show alignment of core business operations with the category for which the company is being nominated, and demonstrate commitment to the communities where a company does business. Nominations of small and medium-sized firms and underserved- and women-owned firms are encouraged.
