Stanford Award for the Advancement of the Common Good
Honoring Alumni Who Advance the Greater Good
The Stanford Award for the Advancement of the Common Good celebrates undergraduate and graduate alumni from across sectors and disciplines whose service improves lives, strengthens democracy, and promotes civic engagement across sectors.
In keeping with Stanford’s founding grant “to be of greater service to the public,” this award honors alumni who use their education, experience, and leadership to address society’s most urgent challenges—creating positive impact. From nonprofit and government to academia and business, these alumni bring purpose to action. They expand opportunity, address pressing challenges, and create lasting change through innovation and dedication.
Award nominees exemplify the university’s mission and values, demonstrating a deep commitment to learning, social responsibility, and ethical and effective service.
Recipients are recognized for their outstanding Purpose, Action, and Impact—reflected through their professional achievements, personal contributions, or both.
- Purpose is the reason for seeking change and the values demonstrated through the process of bringing about the change.
- Action is shown in how directly and critically the changemaker has contributed to advancing efforts that result in positive change. The originality and innovation of the work are also important factors.
- Impact captures the scale of positive change resulting from contribution(s)—such as improvements to communities, the environment, or systems, and the extent to which the work has enabled or inspired others.
Nominate or let us know about living alumni, from recent graduates to those with more established careers. Self-nominations are accepted. Once submitted, nominations remain active for three years. Recipients will be selected by a committee that includes alumni, staff, and faculty. The award will be presented at Commencement in June.
Thank you for your help in identifying inspiring members of our community for recognition. The deadline for submitting nominations for the 2026 has passed.
We will begin accepting nominations for the 2027 award in the summer 2026.
Contact Peggy Propp, `81, Haas Center for Public Service, with questions.
2025 Recipients
Gayatri Datar, MBA ’14
Datar co-founded EarthEnable, a social enterprise that provides people in Africa with healthier homes by training local masons to craft earthen floors, which are made with packed, locally sourced materials like gravel, sand, clay, and fibrous substances before being sealed with a drying oil. Since its founding in 2014, EarthEnable has impacted more than 250,000 lives, created more than 1,000 jobs in East Africa, and completed approximately 45,000 projects.
Pamela Ronald, MS ’84
Ronald’s discoveries have advanced understanding of fundamental biological processes and enhanced sustainable agriculture and food security. Her groundbreaking research led to the discovery of genes conferring immunity and the development of rice (a staple food for more than half of the world's population) that can tolerate flooding, now grown by more than 6 million farmers in Southeast Asia.
Read the 2025 Stanford Report article
Past Recipients
2024
José Padilla, ’74
As executive director of California Rural Legal Assistance (CRLA), Padilla championed the rights of farmworkers and others experiencing rural poverty for nearly four decades, providing free legal services to around 48,000 rural farmworkers annually. Before joining CRLA, Padilla helped develop a community-based low-income credit union, a bilingual community radio station, and an immigration center serving Central American refugees.
Fred Swaniker, MBA ’04
Swaniker supports innovation and responsible corporate practices in Africa and serves as a global leader in social entrepreneurship. He is the founder of the African Leadership Group, which develops ethical and entrepreneurial leaders for Africa, and matches them with career opportunities through the African Leadership Academy, a pre-university program; the African Leadership University, an undergraduate and postgraduate institution; and Sand Technologies, which trains software engineers and data scientists.
Read the 2024 Stanford Report article
2023
Dianne Calvi, ’84
Calvi, president and CEO of Village Enterprise, advocates for the most vulnerable and works to end extreme poverty in rural Africa. The organization focuses on strategic partnerships; innovation and technology; rigorous monitoring and evaluation; and building a passionate African team.
Rey Saldaña, ’09, MA ’10
Saldaña is president and CEO of Communities in Schools (CIS), the country’s largest nonprofit providing student support inside schools, ensuring students are empowered to stay in school and on a path to a brighter future. CIS is the country’s largest provider of student support inside schools with more than 4,000 staff embedded in over 3,000 Title I schools in 26 states.
Read the 2023 Stanford Report article
2022
Jimmy Chen, ’10
Chen, founder and CEO of Propel, created an anti-poverty software company that has measurably improved the lives of low-income Americans and shown the scale and impact of social entrepreneurship. The company focuses on financial services for low-income families through the free app Providers, which allows people to track food stamp balances, government benefits, and more.
Camara Phyllis Jones, MD ’81
Jones, a family physician and epidemiologist in Atlanta, Georgia, has conducted groundbreaking research and advocacy that have changed the national conversation on racism and health. Her work has been critical in most U.S. states and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention formally declaring racism as a public health crisis, helping direct resources toward addressing systemic racism and health inequities.