Ramon Magsaysay Award - History

History

In May 1957, seven prominent Filipinos were named to the founding board of trustees of the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation, the non-profit corporation tasked with implementing the awards program.

The RMAF recognizes and honors individuals and organizations in Asia regardless of race, creed, sex, or nationality, who have achieved distinction in their respective fields and have helped others generously without anticipating public recognition. The awards have traditionally been given in five categories: government service; public service; community leadership; journalism, literature, and creative communication arts; and peace and international understanding.

During the 2000 Magsaysay Awards presentation ceremony, the Foundation announced the creation of a sixth Award category, Emergent Leadership. This new Award category was established with the support of a grant from the Ford Foundation. The Ramon Magsaysay Award for Emergent Leadership honors "individuals, forty years of age and below, doing outstanding work on issues of social change in their communities, but whose leadership is not yet broadly recognized outside of these communities." An award in this category was given for the first time in 2001.

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