Presented by Universal Awards Management, LLC and the World Forum of Russian-Speaking Jewry, with support from the American Council for World Jewry, the “Russian-American Person of the Year” Awards strive to unify the diverse communities of all Russian-speaking Americans in United States. 

Community building is essential to strengthening our cities and country.  By increasing civic involvement and encouraging people to work together, we enrich and strengthen the culture of our society.  The “Russian-American Person of the Year” program aims to achieve our goals by spotlighting and advocating the tremendous contributions Russian-Americans have made on all aspects of life in the United States.

The web-based voting system will allow millions of people in the U.S. Russian-speaking population to nominate and vote for the Russian-American who has made their community proud, while adding value to their new homeland. The nominations are available in eight categories:  Educator of the Year; Emerging Leader of the Year; Philanthropist of the Year; Innovator of the Year; Visual Artist of the Year; Media Award; Performer of the Year; and, the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Nomination Criteria:

The Award is open to any person resides anywhere in the United States and identifies as being of former Soviet-Union/Russian decent.  

The nominee must be accomplished in one of the eight categories referenced above, having made a notable impact in his or her field.  The nominee should be well known in his or her local community, or in the national or international arena. A person may nominate himself/herself, or others.

An ideal nominee is one who both serves and inspires his or her community. 

The “Russian-American Person of the Year” award is a true honor in that it is a symbol of a community’s trust and respect for the recipient.  The award is a marker of not only all that the Russian-speaking American community has accomplished in the past, but of what it will continue to accomplish in the future.

Nominations/Voting

1. Nominations/Voting.  NO PURCHASE OR PAYMENT OF ANY KIND IS NECESSARY TO NOMINATE OR VOTE.
2. How to Nominate/Vote.  To nominate in the categories visit the site and follow the directions to nominate persons in the eight categories listed above.  Nominations will be accepted starting at 12:00 AM EST on August 1, 2014 and ending at 11:59 PM EST on September 30, 2014.

Between October 1, 2014 and October 10, 2014, the Advisory Board and the Advisory Organizations will review the nominees and select the top candidates for each of the eight categories listed above.

To vote in the categories visit the site or our Facebook page and follow the directions to vote for persons listed in the categories listed above.  The votes will be accepted starting at 12:00 AM EST on October 15, 2014 and ending at 11:59 PM EST on November 18, 2014.

On November 23, 2014, the winner of the “Russian-American Person of the Year” award in each of the eight categories listed above will be announced at a Russian-American Person of the Year event.

 3. Nomination Conditions.  Nominations/voting in all categories is unlimited between the nomination and voting time periods listed above.  Universal Awards, LLC, the World of Russian-Speaking Jewry and the American Council for World Jewry reserve all rights to review and approve all nominations to ensure that they meet the stated criteria for the award, and will work together to ensure that the nomination and selection process is fair.  All decisions regarding the nomination and voting process and nominees shall be final and shall not be subject to challenge or appeal.

No automatic, programmed, robotic or similar means of nomination or voting are permitted.  Participants who do not comply with these terms and conditions, or who attempt to interfere with the nomination or voting process or the operation of the site in any way will be disqualified and their nominations or votes will not be counted.  Universal Awards, the World Forum of Russian Speaking Jewry reserves the right, its sole discretion, to cancel, terminate, modify, or suspend the nomination or voting process should any virus, bug, non-authorized human intervention, fraud or other cause beyond its control corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness or proper conduct of the nomination or voting process. 

Universal Awards, LLC, the World Forum of Russian-Speaking Jewry, the American Council for World Jewry, and all of their respective affiliates, partners, promotion and advertising agencies are not responsible for technical, hardware, software, telephone or other communications malfunctions, errors or failures of any kind, lost or unavailable network connections, the site, Internet, or ISP availability, unauthorized human intervention, traffic congestion, incomplete or inaccurate capture of nomination information (regardless of cause) or failed, incomplete, garbled, jumbled or delayed computer transmissions which may limit one’s ability to submit a nomination or vote, including but not limited to, any injury or damages to participant’s or any other person’s computer or mobile device relating to or resulting from participating in the nomination or voting process or downloading of any materials.  Universal Awards, LLC and the World Forum of Russian Speaking Jewry are not responsible for lost, late, illegible, incomplete, invalid, unintelligible, technically corrupted or misdirected nominations or votes, which will be disqualified.  Universal Awards, LLC and the World Forum of Russian Speaking Jewry shall use commercially reasonable efforts to ensure the security and accuracy of all nominations and votes, and the nomination and voting process (provided, however, that you acknowledge and agree that such methodologies are not infallible, and that Universal Awards, LLC, the World Forum of Russian Speaking Jewry award makes no guarantee as to their effectiveness).

CAUTION: ANY ATTEMPT BY A PARTICIPANT TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE ANY WEB SITE OR UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THE NOMINATION OR VOTING PROCESS MAY BE A VIOLATION OF UNITED STATES FEDERAL CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS AND SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, WE RESERVE THE RIGH TO SEEK DAMAGES FROM ANY SUCH PERSON TO THE FULLEST EXTENT OF THE LAW. 

We may modify these terms at any time without notice to you by posting revised versions of the terms on our site.  Your use of our site constitutes your acceptance of these terms, including modifications we may make.  If you do not agree to these terms, do not use this website or participate in the nomination or voting process for the “Russian-American Person of the Year” award.