The Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award was created in 1984 by the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial, now known as Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, to honor individuals around the world who have shown great courage and have made a significant contribution to human rights in their country.
In addition to receiving a financial award, laureates can partner with the RFK Center on projects to advance their human rights work, benefiting from the resources and technologies at the foundation's disposal. Some have achieved their goals, some are in exile from their home country. The majority continue to live in their home country and work with the support of the center to establish the human rights they are working for.
Since 1984, awards have been given to 37 individuals and organizations, from 24 countries.
The Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights foundation also presents Ripple of Hope Awards annually to business, entertainment, and activist leaders. The name of the award is inspired by Kennedy's Ripple of Hope speech in 1966. They first presented the award in 2007.
Laureates
Ripple of Hope Award
| Year
|
Laureate
|
Country
|
| 2023
|
Edwin Barbey Charitable Trust (Peter and Pamela Barbey, and their son Matt)
|
United States
|
|
Fran Drescher
|
|
January 6th Select Committee (Representatives Aguilar, Cheney, Kinzinger, Lofgren, Luria, Murphy, Raskin, Thompson, and Schiff)
|
| 2022
|
Frank Baker
|
United States
|
|
Brian Moynihan
|
| Michael Polsky
|
Ukraine
United States
|
|
Bill Russell
|
United States
|
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex &
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex
|
United Kingdom
United States
|
|
Volodymyr Zelenskyy
|
Ukraine
|
| 2021
|
Stacey Abrams
|
United States
|
|
José E. Feliciano
|
|
Deven Parekh
|
|
Hans Vestberg
|
Sweden
|
| 2020
|
Anthony Fauci
|
United States
|
|
Dolores Huerta
|
|
Colin Kaepernick
|
|
Dan Schulman
|
|
Dan Springer
|
| 2019
|
Nancy Pelosi
|
United States
|
|
J. K. Rowling†
|
United Kingdom
|
|
Wendy Abrams
|
United States
|
|
Glen Tullman
|
| 2018
|
Barack Obama
|
United States
|
|
David Zaslav
|
|
Phil Murphy
|
|
Bruce D. Broussard
|
| 2017
|
Harry Belafonte
|
United States
|
|
Alex Gorsky
|
|
Hamdi Ulukaya
|
Turkey
|
| 2016
|
Howard Schultz
|
United States
|
|
Joe Biden
|
|
Scott Minerd
|
| 2015
|
Roger Altman
|
United States
|
|
Marianna Vardinoyannis
|
Greece
|
|
Tim Cook
|
United States
|
|
John Lewis
|
| 2014
|
Donato Tramuto
|
United States
|
|
Hillary Clinton
|
|
Robert De Niro
|
|
Tony Bennett
|
| 2013
|
Muhammad Yunus
|
Bangladesh
|
| John Boyer
|
United States
|
| 2012
|
Taylor Swift
|
United States
|
|
Vincent Mai
|
| 2011
|
Al Gore
|
United States
|
| Dennis Mathisen
|
| 2010
|
George Clooney
|
United States
|
|
Robert F. Smith
|
|
Marc Spilker
|
| 2009
|
Bono
|
Ireland
|
|
Wyclef Jean
|
Haiti
|
| 2008
|
Desmond Tutu
|
South Africa
|
|
Clive Davis
|
United States
|
|
Afsaneh Beschloss
|
Iran
|
| 2007
|
Bill Clinton
|
United States
|
|
Bob Pittman
|
†=Recipient returned their award.
See also