What or Who to Nominate

You may already have a person, project, or organization in mind to nominate for an OEAward. If not, think about who has made significant contributions to your Open Education community, whether on a large or small scale, or at a regional or local level. Which projects have you encountered or participated in that embody the spirit of openness? Where have you observed Open Education practices that have positively affected learners’ ability to access and utilize open educational resources?

There is nothing wrong with a self-nomination for yourself, your own project, or something from your organization! We wish to surface as many examples as possible. Please consider nominating another person or an interesting project from elsewhere as a positive act of appreciation.

Draw inspiration from previous award winners! Explore the OEAwards Hall of Fame to view the 284 awards shared since 2011. You can try a dose of serendipity by looking at a randomly chosen previous award winner.

You can also listen to or read our collection of OEAward Impact Stories, or tune into the episodes of the OEGlobal Voices podcast that feature conversations with award winners.

Choosing the award or category for your Nomination

In years past, nominators had to choose from 16 different award categories. For 2026, we’ll keep the simpler structure of three main award categories:

1. Individual Awards (People of Open)
2. Open Assets (What We Share)
3. Open Practices (How We Share)

To allow for greater specificity, we introduce a flexible and creative approach – “Name Your Award” – to show the nomination’s focus.

To help you decide on the best category for your nomination, and to maybe consider a specific focus, please review the 2026 Category Explorer, which includes links to previous award winners in each main category. Exploring the categories and other links to previous nominations, shortlisted finalists, and stories of impact may inspire ideas if you’re unsure what or whom to nominate.

Deciding Who or What is Eligible for an OEAward of Excellence

Nominations for the 2026 OEAwards can be submitted for any individual, team, project, or example of practice that advances Open Education. You do not need to be a member of OEGlobal to submit a nomination, nor does the nominee need to be a member.

Self-nominations are not only accepted but also encouraged, as no one knows a person or project better than those involved!

Please note that current staff and board members of Open Education Global (OEGlobal) are not eligible for Individual Awards.

The Information You Will Need for the Nominations Form

Below, we share more details on the information requested on the nomination form.

We also provide a Google Doc template for the nomination form, along with links to download your own copy in Microsoft Word (.docx) and ODF (Open Document Format, .odt). These forms can be used to organize your thoughts and draft the required information in advance.

• Create your own editable copy of the 2026 OEAward Nomination Form Template as a Google Document saved to your own Google Drive.
• Download an MS Word version of the template (.docx)
• Download an Open Document Format of the template (.odt)

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About the Nominator (You!)

This first section is about the nominator (you, the person filling out the form) asking for basic contact information:

• Your full name
• A preferred name for addressing you (as “first/last name is not a universal convention). This is the name we will use to greet you as “Dear _______” in an email message
• Your email address is required so we can update you or contact you if we have a question about your nomination.
• Your organizational affiliation is requested so we can track the organizations that support our OEAwards program.
• Indicate if this is a self-nomination. If so, we can simplify the form by not asking for contact information repeatedly.
• Subscribe to OEGlobal News by email. Check the box if you wish to be added as a subscriber.

Award Nomination

Award Category and Focus

Select the main award category that best describes your nominee: Individual Awards (People of Open), Open Assets Awards (What We Share), or Open Practices (How We Share). These broad categories are designed to accommodate all nominations. For guidance from previous awards, please see the OEAwards Category Explorer.

Next, you will enter the name of a person you are nominating for an Individual award, or the title/name of a project or practice being nominated for the Open Assets or Open Practices category. Note for self-nominations of Individual awards, we already have your name, so this field will be hidden.

Third, once you have selected the main category, you can be more precise in naming the award by specifying the role (for Individual Awards) or the type of Open Asset or Open Practice. This allows you to be clear about the award’s focus and serves as the award’s final title. You are encouraged to be creative with an award name!

The next three written sections are perhaps the most important, as this is where you make the case for why your nominee should earn an award. These input fields are limited in length.

Reasons To Recognize This Nominee with An OEAward

Write a persuasive rationale why the nominee deserves recognition for Excellence in Open Education. This should be a description that will capture the reader’s interest, especially the OEAward reviewers. This is also a chance to explain how a nomination is meeting the needs of a particular region or population, and as well to make a case for any size organization.  Your response should address, “The reason this nomination deserves to be recognized with a 2026 Open Education Award for Excellence is…” (1200 character limit, about 2 paragraphs).

General Description / Summary

Now you can add more detail. Who is the person you are nominating? What does the resource, project, or practice do or achieve for/in Open Education? Include a background of an individual or describe the resource, project, or practice being nominated. Your response should explain your nominee’s achievements to someone unfamiliar with them or it. This description should be between 3-5 paragraphs (5000 character limit).

Statement of Alignment with Open Education Global’s Principles and Goals of Open Education

What makes this nominee excellent in the field of Open Education? Make a case to the OEAwards Review Committee for how the nominee exemplifies one or more of the principles and aligns with the goals of Open Education as outlined in OEGlobal’s Strategic Plan.  These are the criteria on which nominations are rated on a scale (read the public version of the Reviewers’ Guide for the rating rubric). Your statement should be about 2-3 paragraphs in length (3000 character limit).

Up to Three Relevant Web Links

Include up to three web addresses that support this nomination, including at least one that best represents the person, project, or resource. These should be public links that the review committee can use to learn more about your nominee. Other links you might consider including are videos, articles, projects, or evidence of impact. Double-check that all links are active.

Contact Information and Other Details

Enter the details for the person being nominated for an Individual Award or the main contact for an Open Asset or Open Practice Award so that we may notify them about their nomination (note for self-nominations, this information is already entered, and some fields will not be shown).

The following information is requested for the nomination form:

• Full Name: This is either the name of the person nominated for an Individual Award or the main contact for an Open Asset or Open Practices Award.
• Nominee Greeting Name: How should we address this nominee to personalize an email message? “Dear __________, we are excited to inform you that….” This is typically, but not always, a first name, a given name, or a nickname they most commonly use.
• Email Address of Individual Nominee or Main Contact: This is for notification purposes only.
• Nominee’s Institution(s) / Affiliation(s): If there are multiple institutions associated with the nominee, please list them all, separating each with a comma.
• Geographic Location of Person or Project/Resource: Please provide the city and country for display of nominees on a global nominations map.
• Additional Countries Represented: For collaborative projects or resources, please enter the names of any other countries represented in the nomination.
• Primary Social Media Link For The Nominee or Project: (optional) The full web address of the most relevant social media contact for this nominee or for a project.

Notification Preference

When you submit your nomination, you can indicate if you wish to be acknowledged by name as the person who submitted a nomination. Otherwise, it is indicated as an anonymous nomination. Someone will know right away that they have been nominated.

Generative AI Transparency

We do not forbid the use of Generative AI for developing your nomination.  In a spirit of transparency, we ask nominators to indicate specifically how Generative AI was used. Please make sure all written statements are reviewed and composed as best as possible to represent a human perspective. This has no bearing on the review of your nomination. We are purely interested in understanding and sharing the effective use of Generative AI.

Generative AI Usage (required)

Did you make use of any Generative AI tools in the development of this nomination?

• No
• Yes (details will be added below)

AI Transparency Declaration (required if Yes selected above)

Please share specifically what Generative AI tools were used and for what purpose(s). This should be in the form of declarative statements like “ChatGPT was used to reduce my narrative to fit the character limits” or “Claude provided suggestions for alignment with the principles and goals of Open Education.”

Personal Reflection / Statement for Reviewers (optional)

At the core, deciding to submit a nomination is a personal decision driven by different motivations. We offer this place for you to write anything else, including personal reflections, that the review committee should know that is not reflected in the form fields (this response is for the selection committee’s confidential review and will not be shared publicly.)

Make a Nomination

The nomination form will be available from May 11 to June 19, 2026.