Michigan Climate Champion Awards

With generous support from the Colina Foundation, MiCAN is excited to launch this year's edition of the Michigan Climate Champion Awards to recognize individuals doing exceptional work to address the climate crisis in Michigan.

Given our regular engagement with the breadth of our network, we understand and appreciate the importance of recognizing both professional advocates who are achieving great things in our state, as well as volunteers who do not get paid to do this work and youth leaders driving change.

1. The Climate Champion Award will go to a professional doing exceptional climate and justice work for an organization, a municipality, or business in Michigan;
2. The Climate Action Award will be awarded to an individual doing exceptional climate and justice work as a volunteer for an organization in Michigan. This award recipient will receive a $1,000 prize for a non-profit of their choice; and,
3. The Young Climate Leader Award will go to a student or other young person doing exceptional work as a volunteer or individual. This award recipient will be granted a $1,000 prize.

The Theme: While MiCAN's approach is to focus on the positive solutions to move forward in the renewable energy economy, we recognize that the first, most logical step in addressing the climate crisis is to shut off the "faucet," eliminating our reliance on fossil fuels. This year's awards theme is "Ending the Era of Fossil Fuels," aimed at honoring anyone working on utility campaigns and/or dismantling the infrastructure that supports fossil fuels: coal plants, oil pipelines, etc. Please know we prefer to remain less prescriptive about their credentials; if there is a creative connection between a candidate and the criteria, we love to learn about it.

Deadline: We're sorry, the nomination window has now passed. Keep your candidates in mind for next year, and discover this year's winners at our winter Members' Meeting!

Winners are selected by MiCAN staff and a selection of steering committee members and will be announced during our December members' meeting. This is an annual award, and new themes will be chosen for 2024, 2025, and 2026.

Want to learn more? Check out our previous recipients!