CGS Awards
We honor leaders whose work moves the world toward peace, justice and democratic cooperation across borders.
Norman Cousins Global Governance Award
The Norman Cousins Global Governance Award honors individuals whose work expands public understanding of world law, global governance, and the case for world federation. It is presented periodically rather than on a fixed schedule, reserved for figures whose contributions have meaningfully shifted how a wider audience thinks about these questions.
About Norman Cousins
Norman Cousins was the longtime editor of the Saturday Review, a citizen diplomat in the postwar era, and one of the most prominent American advocates for nuclear disarmament and a federated world community. He served as president of the World Federalist Association, a predecessor of Citizens for Global Solutions, and he spent decades arguing in print and in person that the rule of law had to extend beyond borders if humanity hoped to outlast the weapons it had built. The award carries his name because it asks the question he never stopped asking: who is making the case for global governance to people who have not yet heard it?
2026
Leila Nadya Sadat
Professor Leila Nadya Sadat receives the 2026 Norman Cousins Global Governance Award in recognition of her exceptional leadership in advancing the proposed Crimes Against Humanity Treaty. For decades, Professor Sadat's scholarship, advocacy, and international collaboration have built the global coalition behind a treaty designed to prevent and punish the gravest offenses against civilian populations, including murder, torture, sexual violence, and deportation when committed as part of widespread or systematic attacks. Her work has rallied governments, legal scholars, and civil society to close a critical gap in international law, one that has left these crimes without a dedicated treaty framework of their own.
2020
William R. Pace
CGS Distinguished Visionary Award
The CGS Distinguished Visionary Award recognizes members of the CGS National Advisory Council who demonstrate exceptional thought leadership, public service, and commitment to advancing our vision of a more peaceful, just, democratic, and effective system of global governance.
About the award
The award is presented to National Advisory Council members who contribute their expertise and leadership to the Norman Cousins Lecture Series, helping bring important ideas about global governance, peace, international law, human rights, world citizenship, and United Nations reform to a broader public audience. Through their participation as featured lecturers, recipients strengthen civic dialogue and inspire new generations to consider bold and practical approaches to building a safer and more democratic world.
Named to reflect the forward-looking leadership of the National Advisory Council, the award honors individuals whose scholarship, professional accomplishments, and public engagement embody the values at the heart of CGS and the legacy of Norman Cousins: the belief that humanity can, and must, build stronger institutions capable of addressing shared global challenges.
2026
Manu Bhagavan
Historian Manu Bhagavan receives the 2026 CGS Distinguished Visionary Award. One of the first to identify the decade-long rise of nationalist, authoritarian populism and the matching decline in faith in democracy, he delivered the 2026 Norman Cousins Lecture, The Way Out: Rekindling Democracy in the 21st Century, charting a possible course for democratic renewal. He is Professor of History, Human Rights, and Public Policy at Hunter College and the Graduate Center, The City University of New York, and author or editor of eight books, including The Remarkable Madame Pandit and The Peacemakers.
CGS Global Citizen Award
The CGS Global Citizen Award is given to public figures who have come to be recognized as global citizens for their commitment to ending war and violence in international disputes, eliminating nuclear weapons, advancing democratic global governance, protecting universal human rights, caring for the global environment, or embracing loyalty to the world alongside loyalty to nation.
2022
Pope Francis
Photo: Korea.net (Jeon Han), CC BY-SA 2.0
Citizens for Global Solutions is honored to present Pope Francis with our Global Citizen Award for 2022.
2021
Martin Sheen
Photo: Super Festivals, CC BY 2.0
Citizens for Global Solutions presents its Global Citizen Award to actor and activist Martin Sheen at the 2021 Annual Conference, recognizing his lifelong commitment to peace and global justice.
Other honors
Two honors recognize service to CGS itself.
Lifetime Achievement Award
The CGS Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes individuals who have given twenty or more years of service to CGS at the national or local level and contributed in significant ways to the organization and its programs. It is often presented to those nearing the close of their active work with CGS.
- 2025 Donna Park
- 2021 Shirley (Lee) Davis
- 2019 Lucy Webster
- 2018 Joe Schwartzberg
- 2017 Ron Glossop
Distinguished Service Award
The CGS Distinguished Service Award honors volunteers whose contributions have measurably strengthened CGS, whether by improving internal operations and communications, generating significant savings, or supporting the organization in other meaningful ways.
- 2026 Anne Zill
- 2023 Bob Flax
- 2022 Bryan MacPherson
- 2021 Tom Hastings
- 2020 Nancy Dunlavy, Lynn Darbie and Eugene (Butch) Otting
Our events bring these leaders and ideas to the public all year.
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