Previous recipients of this annual award are environmental activist, author and social entrepreneur Van Jones, human rights and civil liberties lawyer Michael Ratner, Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman, journalist and author Barbara Ehrenreich, labor activist Dolores Huerta, educator and author Jonathan Kozol, professor and anti-death penalty advocate David Protess, and civil rights pioneer Robert Parris Moses. Candidates for the prize are to be found in a broad range of occupations and pursuits, including academia, journalism, public health, literature, art, the environmental sciences, labor and the humanities.

VAN JONES| 2008 Recipient
Van Jones, a champion for the toughest urban constituencies and causes, is the founder and president of Green For All, a national advocacy organization based in Oakland, California, that is committed to building an inclusive, green economy that can lift millions of people out of poverty.
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MICHAEL RATNER| 2007 Recipient
Michael Ratner, one of the country's foremost defenders of human rights and civil liberties, will be honored for repeatedly challenging the Bush administration on the constitutionality of indefinite detention and restrictions on domestic civil liberties.
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AMY GOODMAN | 2006 Recipient
Amy Goodman is the host and executive producer of the daily news program, Democracy Now! She was honored for her ground-breaking reporting and commitment to questioning those in power on behalf of those who rarely have a voice in the mainstream media.
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JONATHAN KOZOL | 2005 Recipient
Renowned educator and author Jonathan Kozol was recognized for exposing the socioeconomic and racial inequities of the public education system.
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BARBARA EHRENREICH | 2004 Recipient
Barbara Ehrenreich was recognized for exposing truths largely ignored by the media, most notably the day-to-day indignities endured by the nation’s working poor.
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DAVID PROTESS | 2003 Recipient
Northwestern University professor, David Protess, has been at the forefront of a nationwide movement to exonerate innocent death row prisoners and is the founding director of the Innocence Project.
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DOLORES HUERTA | 2002 Recipient
Dolores Huerta is a lifelong human rights activist and co-founder, along with César Chavez, of the United Farm Workers Union.
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