The 2025 GInI GDI Awards Program

It is with great pride that Global Innovation Institute (GInI) presents the 2025 Global Distinguished Innovator – or GDI – Awards.

The GDI Awards are a global recognition honoring individuals, teams, and organizations who have demonstrated exceptional leadership in advancing innovation in their respective domains.

Established to spotlight those shaping the future through purposeful innovation and impact, the GDI Awards reflect GInI’s enduring commitment to recognizing excellence at the highest level of innovation practice.

Applications are open now; you may submit an application below. Applications close on December 31, 2025. For inquiries and further information, please contact at gdi@gini.org.

The Awards:

Spanning ten categories, the GDI Awards recognize and honor a wide range of innovation excellence — from individual and team achievements to organizational initiatives and institutional enablers.

Each award recognizes a specific type of contribution – celebrating those who lead with intention to drive meaningful innovation and deliver lasting impacts across different industries, markets, and communities worldwide.

An individual or organization can be recognized across multiple award categories, with each category open to honoring more than one distinguished recipient.

Distinguished Innovator

This award honors individuals who have – over the past two years – played a leading role in driving impactful innovation, from conception to execution, that have resulted in measurable external impacts across the affected sector(s).

Distinguished Chief Innovation Officer

This award honors senior leaders who have driven major innovation, strategy, and/or technology initiatives over the past two years – thereby demonstrating visionary leadership, enterprise-wide impact, and a disciplined approach to achieving sustained organizational outcomes.

Distinguished GInI Ambassador

This award honors individuals and organizations who have made meaningful and measurable contributions to advancing GInI’s mission through advocacy and regional influence over the past year.

Distinguished Innovation by Private Sector

This award honors private sector organizations who have – through an effective strategic innovation process – conceived, developed, and launched a high-impact innovation demonstrating measurable external impact within their industry and markets.

Distinguished Innovation by Public Sector

This award honors public sector organizations who have – through an effective strategic innovation process – successfully advanced public value and attained meaningful societal outcomes by introducing an impactful innovation in their sector.

Distinguished Private Sector Organization

This award honors private sector organizations who have developed a formally-structured corporate innovation program and through that program have launched at least three majorly impactful innovations over the past five years – and in so doing have demonstrated measurable positive impacts in their industry and markets.

Distinguished Public Sector Organization

This award honors public-sector organizations who have developed a sustained enterprise-wide innovation program and through that program have launched at least three high-impact initiatives over the past five years – thereby demonstrating advanced institutional excellence and delivering measurable external public value.

Distinguished Innovation Enabler

This award honors formalized innovation enablers – including Innovation Labs, Innovation Centers, Business Incubators, Accelerator Programs, and other similar assets and programs – that have – through a structured innovation process and sustained engagement – demonstrably empowered the affected stakeholders to deliver at least two high-impact innovations over the past two years. (Note: this award is conferred only upon such assets and programs – not upon individuals and teams).

Distinguished GInI Chapter

This award honors official GInI-chartered chapters that, over the past year, have demonstrated sustained activity, strong council engagement, and meaningful regional impact through their programming and outreach – including by being actively supported by a committed team of GInI Council Members.

Distinguished Authorized Provider

This award honors official GInI Authorized Providers who have delivered consistently high-quality, highimpact GInI training and assessment services over the past year, thus creating measurable impact in their region while also advancing GInI’s global mission.