North American Zarathushti Community Awards 2024

AWARD CATEGORIES, DEFINITIONS, AND EVALUATION CRITERIA

CATEGORY A

Rohinton Rivetna Outstanding Zarathushti Award

Definition
To recognize a Zarathushti who has made outstanding and well-recognized contributions to further the cause of Zarathushtis in North America and internationally through outstanding leadership and service.  Such contributions could include Zarathushti history, theology, culture, religious education, community organizations, and interfaith activities.

Evaluation Criteria

  • Achievements: 30%
  • Contributions regionally and worldwide:  30%
  • Leadership, honesty, other traits, and the person as a role model: 20%
  • Involvement and fostering causes dear to the Zoroastrian community: 20%

CATEGORY B

Jamshed and Shirin Guzdar Excellence in Business or Profession Award

Definition

To recognize a Zarathushti who is dedicated to the advancement of science, technology, engineering, medicine, industrial discovery, or application. The individual efforts forge new roles for people and create opportunities for future generations and advancement of profession/trade/business.

Evaluation Criteria

  • Level of Academic Qualifications 25%
  • Innovative and effective power of research/product/service regionally or internationally 35%
  • Major cited publications regionally or internationally 15%
  • Awards received 15%
  • Contribution to community 10%

CATEGORY C

Jamshed Pavri Humanitarian Service Award

Definition

To recognize a Zarathushti who has identified a local community (not limited to Zarathushti community) need or issue and has provided effective initiative to inspire and pioneer meaningful change. An individual is recognized as a source of strength and heart in the community, and harnesses the time, talent and capacity of others. Minimum service five years. To recognize the outstanding service rendered to the community.

Evaluation Criteria

  • Contribution of their work on the community & Society at large: 30%
  • Peer recognition of outstanding Community Service: 20%
  • Impact of their contributions on the community they served: 30%
  • Barriers overcome by them: 20%

CATEGORY D

Dinshaw Framroze Joshi Excellence in Performing Arts, Painting or Literature Award

Definition

To recognize an individual who has enriched society through the commitment to visual, literary, media, architectural, performing arts (dance, music and drama), painting or literature. An individual is recognized in the field for excelling as a creator or performer, facilitating, or promoting the artistic efforts of others or broadening community engagement in the field of art/design/literature/culture.

Evaluation Criteria

  • Level of Academic Qualifications: 25%
  • Innovative and effective power in the art/design/literature/culture areas: 25%
  • Prizes and Awards – Local, State, National, International 25%
  • Performance / exhibition achievements including pictures of work done: 15%
  • Creativity and professional standards shared with community: 10%

CATEGORY E

Mehraban Zartoshty Rising Outstanding Young Zarathushti Stars Award

Definition
To recognize a young Zarathushti between ages of 18 – 35 years (on January 1 of the year of Congress) who after achieving high grades as a student in scholastic studies and participating in other extra-curricular activities, is deemed to be an outstanding rising star by peers, and who has made substantial contributions to Zarathushti community affairs in the local community region where an individual has lived and abroad.

Evaluation Criteria

  • Level of Academic Qualifications: 25%
  • Level of Achievements & Progression in Chosen Profession: 45%
  • Service and Contributions to Zarathushti Community & Community at large: 30%

CATEGORY F

Shirin Dastoor Diversity Award

Definition
The Diversity Award honors an individual, project, organization, or institution for outstanding contributions to improving gender and racial diversity, equity and inclusion. The award is given for a broad range of activities, including research, education, and increasing awareness and ser-vice to improve diversity. The award seeks to recognize achievements as well as innovative and/or high impact activities. An important purpose of the award is to offer a vision of the challenges and opportunities facing greater diversity in world.

Evaluation Criteria

  • The candidate or group has brought about social change by transforming traditional practice: 25%
  • The diversity initiative has spread beyond its initial context in the country or internationally: 25%
  • The diversity adapted in other regions of the world: 20%
  • The candidate has founded, developed, and implemented the together with poor or marginalized beneficiaries and stakeholders: 15%
  • The candidate is an individual who serves as a diversity role model: 15%

CATEGORY G

North American Mobeds Council Community Services Award

Definition
To recognize a young Zarathushti Mobed or Mobedyar, 35 years or on January 1 of the year of Congress. (That is, born on or after January 1 of the year of Congress), who has provided exemplary services to the Zarathushti community.  This award is sponsored by NAMC, and the selection of the candidate will be made by a committee appointed by NAMC.

Rules and Guidelines

Awards Committee

  1. The FEZANA Exec Board formulates the NAZC Awards committee.
  2. The Committee shall appoint three judges for each category of award and under no circumstances less than two.
  3. All nominations shall be submitted online through an application portal on the FEZANA website.
  4. Multiple categories of awards have been formulated under the NAZC Awards Program. The award categories are revisited and modified periodically.
  5. For each category of award there will be an appropriate physical memento. The design and fabrication of the same shall be done by the Awards Committee.
  6. The Chair of the NAZC Awards Committee solicits and receives completed nominations and forward the same to the judges in consultation with the NAZC Awards Team.

 Eligibility Conditions for Nominees

  1. Nominee must be a citizen or legal permanent resident of Canada or the United States of America, and  Nominee should have been properly initiated into the Zarathushti religion.
  2. An individual can be nominated for one award category only.
  3. The following individuals shall not be eligible for nomination for the World Zarathushti Community Awards:
    1. Members of Awards Committee.
    1. A past award recipient shall not be nominated or, if nominated shall not be considered, for any award category for three years from the date of the previous award.
    1.  Individual Zarathushti appointed by the NAZC Awards Committee to serve as judge for the specific category for which he/she is a judge.

 Nominations

  1. All nominations must be submitted on the online nomination hosted on the FEZANA website only.
  2. Nominee must be sponsored by one individual.
  3. An individual sponsoring a nomination on behalf of an association must indicate their position in the organization.
  4. The sponsor by submitting the nomination and the nominee by acknowledging their nomination.
    • agrees to abide by the rules established by the NAZC Awards Committee for the Awards; and
    • accepts all decisions of the NAZC Awards Committee as final.
  1. Nominations should not exceed 2000 words. No attachments or other supplementary documents are necessary. A personal perspective on the candidate is encouraged.
  2. The NAZC Awards Committee will first review all nominations before their submission to the judges. Nominations that do not meet the guidelines and criteria set by the NAZC Awards Committee will not be submitted to the judges.
  3. For each award category, a minimum of two (2) nominations shall be required for evaluation and of a winner. If only a single nomination is received for any award category, it shall not normally be considered for evaluation and the sponsors shall be notified. However, in exceptional cases, in consultation with the judges for that category, the NAZC Awards Committee may consider the single nominee for an award.
  4. The NAZC Awards Committee will not entertain or respond to:
    • inquiries about the status of nominations during the process of evaluation or thereafter; or
    • Appeals against its decision on any item related to a nomination.

Timeline

June 1, 2024: Nominations Open

July 30, 2024: Nomination Period Ends.

September 15, 2024: Jury Process Ends.

September 30, 2024: All winners informed

December 30, 2024: FEZANA Awards Luncheon.

 Judges

  1. The NAZC Awards Committee shall appoint three judges for each category of award and under no circumstances less than two, comprising respected Zarathushti from around the world.
  2. The judges are appointed after the nomination is closed.
  3. A Sponsor will not be selected as judge for the same category.
  4. A judge can sponsor a nominee but cannot be a judge in the same category in which the nominee’s name appears.

 Evaluation of Nominations and of Winners

  1. The judges shall be required to evaluate the nominees based solely on:
    a. the information contained in the Nomination Form; and
    b. the evaluation criteria and points system prescribed by the NAZC Awards Committee.
  2. If in the opinion of the NAZC Awards Committee there is an evident bias in the evaluation of a nominee by a specific judge, that judge’s evaluation may not be considered in determining the result and the winner for that category.
  3. The judges shall submit their evaluation in the prescribed evaluation summary form, indicating the number of points scored by each nominee against each evaluation criteria and the total number of points. The nominee scoring the maximum total number of points scored by all the judges in the panel shall be declared the winner for each category.
  4. The NAZC Awards Committee may declare more than one winner in a category, if two or more nominees have almost same total points.
  5. If the judges declare that none of the nominees for a specific category deserves an award, the NAZC Awards Committee may decide not to declare a winner for that award category.

 Announcement of Winners

  1. The winners shall be selected 60 days before the start of the Congress. Winners will be intimated of the same with a request to keep the information confidential till the announcement at the Congress. At the congress, their achievements will be publicized, and they will be officially recognized at the Awards Presentation Ceremony.
  2. All winners will be encouraged to attend the Congress in person. If for any reason they are unable to, then an acceptance speech (3 min) shall be procured by the hosts via a zoom recording. The same shall be played at the time of the Awards Ceremony.
  3. After the Congress, the names of the winners shall be publicized in Zarathushti publications worldwide.

For any questions email awards@fezana.org

Online Nomination Portal

Press Room

FEZANA represents a diverse and growing Zarathushti community in North America.

Guided by the blessings of AHURA MAZDA and the teachings of our Prophet Zarathushtra; the Federation was founded in 1987 It serves as the coordinating body for 26 Zoroastrian Associations and 14 Corresponding Groups in the United States and Canada.

The activities of FEZANA are conducted in a spirit of mutual respect, co-operation and unity amongst all Member associations, and with due regard for the principles of GOODNESS, TRUTH, REASON, BENEVOLENCE, IMPLICIT TRUST and CHARITY towards all Mankind.

:+: Baname Khoda Kshnothro Ahura Mazda