Nominations for the Benjamin Franklin Award for Public Diplomacy

The State Department’s Office of Private Sector Outreach was created to develop and coordinate “innovative ways for the State Department to engage the private sector in our public diplomacy initiatives.” Indeed, Secretary Rice states, “The solutions to the challenges of the 21st century are not going to be met by government alone. They come from all sectors of American society working together.”

The Office of Private Sector Outreach page indicates that State now recognizes what all Americans abroad have always known, which is that public diplomacy “is certainly not the work of government alone.” Companies, universities, foundations, groups and individuals can and do represent and embody essential aspects of America.

In light of this, State has created the Benjamin Franklin Award for Public Diplomacy. The Washington Post reports that the award is:

a new annual award to honor a company, academic institution or other nongovernmental entity that does the most to promote the U.S. image abroad through intercultural understanding

Some obvious choices for the award: American Citizens Abroad, Business for Diplomatic Action, the Federation of American Women’s Clubs Overseas, and any number of the myriad and many members of the Association of American Clubs.

According to the State Department’s description of the award (available here as a PDF) the nominations are being accepted as from September 15, 2007 and until December 15, 2007. The nomination form is available here. According to the PDF, all nominations should be mailed, faxed, or emailed to:

Office of the Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street, NW, Room 7261
Washington, D.C. 20520
Diplomacyupdate@state.gov
202 647-9199/202 647-9140 (fax)
http://www.state.gov/r/partnerships