The Gwynne Skinner Human Rights Award was created in memory of ICAR Advisor and close friend Professor Gwynne Skinner. The award is presented in conjunction with the ICAR Annual Meeting to an individual or organization that has made a significant contribution to corporate accountability that year.
Professor Gwynne Skinner was a Professor of Law at Willamette University. Professor Skinner also worked as an ICAR Advisor for over six years, serving as a resource, guide, mentor, and friend to the ICAR community. Her work litigating on the front lines of corporate accountability, producing scholarship, and thought-leadership on access to remedy, parent company accountability, and a range of other issues put her at the forefront of the agenda on business and human rights.
About the Award
This award is delivered in conjunction with ICAR’s Annual Meeting each year and recognizes the work of an individual and/or an organization that has made a significant contribution to corporate accountability that year.
A Selection Committee of leaders in corporate accountability, as well as family members of Gwynne, have been appointed to lead in the selection of the recipient.
The Selection Committee includes:
- Katie Gallagher, Center for Constitutional Rights;
- Melissa Tuck, International Corporate Accountability Roundtable;
- Elena Arengo, Project on Organization, Development, Education, and Research;
- Joseph Wilde, SOMO;
- Stephanie Amoako, Accountability Counsel;
- Aruna Kashyap, Human Rights Watch;
- Beth Skrypzak, Gwynne Skinner’s wife; and
- Jill Skinner, Gwynne Skinner’s sister.
How to Submit a Nomination
The nomination period for the 2025 Gwynne Skinner Human Rights Award is now open. Please email nominations to skinneraward@icar.ngo. The deadline to submit nominations is Friday, March 7, 2025. All nominations will be kept confidential.
Announcements for the 2025 Gwynne Skinner Human Rights Award will be made in April with the award presented on the last day of ICAR’s Annual Meeting.
Past Recipients
Centre d’Aide Juridico-Judiciaire (2024). Read the announcement in English, Spanish, and French.
ProDESC and Collective in the Defense of HR and Communal Lands & Labor Stakeholders to the Dindigul Agreement (2022). Read the announcement in English, Spanish and French.
MP Theonila Roka Matbob and Charity Ryerson (2021). Read the announcement in English, Spanish, and French.
Alejandra Gonza and Al-Haq (2020). Read the announcement in English and Spanish.
Steve Hitov, General Counsel, Coalition of Immokalee Workers (2019). Read the Announcement