Andrew E. Rice Award
For Leadership and Innovation by a Young Professional in International Development
Thank you to our Rice Award Selection Committee!
- Kerry Bruce, CEO and Founder, Clear Outcomes
- Roger Ford, Managing Director, Global Lead, Accenture Development Partnerships
- Carla Koppell, Distinguished Fellow, Georgetown University Institute for Women, Peace and Security
- Sylvia Megret, Chief Operating Officer, ACDI/VOCA
- Byron Radcliffe, President and CEO, Equal Access International
- Susan Reichle, President and CEO, International Youth Foundation (IYF)
- William Rice, Andrew Rice's Son
Each year we present the Andrew E. Rice Award for Leadership and Innovation by a Young Professional in International Development (Rice Award) at our Annual Conference. This award recognizes the achievements of an exceptional young professional working in the field of international development. Previously named “The Truman Award,” the award was established in 2003 by Andrew E. Rice and Robert Berg to honor leadership, innovation, impact and commitment. It was renamed The Rice Award in 2011 to honor the memory and contributions of one of its chief architects.
The recipient of this award demonstrates leadership and innovation, as well as tremendous promise for advancement in the field of international development. The selected winner recognizes the importance of international development as a means of service to those who are most in need and will work towards sustainable, people-centered development.
Applicants come from every continent around the world and their work focuses on a wide range of sectors. To see a graphic depicting the variety of applications we have received, please click here.
2019 Rice Award Winner: Ms. Kanchan Amatya
We are pleased to announce that Ms. Kanchan Amatya is the winner of our 2019 Rice Award for Leadership and Innovation by a Young Professional in International Development. Kanchan Amatya is a Nepalese social entrepreneur, women’s rights activist and UN Women’s Global Champion for Women’s Economic Empowerment with a deep interest in re-defining Asia’s growth and development. She is the Founder and Executive Director of Sustainable Fish Farming Initiative, an award winning social enterprise based in Nepal that empowers rural farmers to tackle poverty, ensure food and nutrition security, and improve natural resource management through sustainable aquaculture, microfinance and technology. Most recently, Kanchan worked with Women Thrive Alliance, where she helped to build a network of over 300 grassroots women’s rights advocates in 53 countries and supported their involvement in a plethora of SDG-era decision making processes at the United Nations. She previously co-led the Youth Assembly at the United Nations’ Resolution Committee and mentored its young delegates from 80+ countries from across Asia, Africa, Europe, Middle East, and South America.
We commend her for her exemplary leadership in the field of development and look forward to presenting this award in celebration of her achievements at our Annual Conference on May 30, 2019
Honorable Mentions
In addition to Ms. Amatya, SID-Washington selected two Honorable Mention winners:
Johnmary Kavuma is a change maker, entrepreneur and an environmentalist passionate about changing people’s lives and saving the environment. Johnmary has declared a war on plastic in Uganda, Africa and world at large, thereby founding Upcycle Africa and Kimuli Fashionability with the desire to save the environment and uplifting the lives of people in his home country starting from one community to another.
Roberto Zapata is a 31-year-old LGBTI human rights activist and leader of AMATE El Salvador, an organization that works for the defense of the economic, social and cultural rights of the Salvadoran lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex community. His current priority is consolidating networks of organizations, at the regional and national level, with an intersectional approach towards class, gender and sexual diversity. His professional experiences include conducting two research projects, one regarding the labor exclusion of the transgender population in San Salvador and the other investigating discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in the national social security program. His main areas of interest are economic, social and cultural rights, queer and feminist studies, political economy and international development.
