About the Award

Her Abilities is the first global award honouring women with disabilities who have achieved greatness in their life or field of work. It is a pioneering initiative, launched in 2018 by Light for the World along with Right Livelihood Award (Alternative Nobel Prize) winner Yetnebersh Nigussie.

Women with disabilities are one of the most marginalised groups globally. Their leadership potential and contributions are so often ignored.

Her Abilities aims to tell those stories which are too seldom told.

By highlighting the achievements of women with disabilities, the Award aims to celebrate their success and amplify their impact; challenge perceptions and stereotypes about women with disabilities; bring visibility to women with disabilities and their contribution to the society; build a network of women committed to the further pursuit of equality and excellence.

Light for the World is the founder of the Award and will organise the judging process.

An independent awards jury decide on one winner in each of the three categories.

This jury is made up of strong female role models with and without disabilities, representing different industries and areas of life.

If we receive more than 50 nominations, Light for the World will make a pre-selection. This is to ensure that the judging does not take too much time and is as easy as possible.

Light for the World will not influence the final decision making.

There are three categories:

1. Health & Education 
   Women with disabilities from the health or education sector, including but not limited to: teachers, teaching assistants, headmasters, university professors, doctors, surgeons, nurses, community health workers, etc.
2. Rights
   Women with disabilities from the advocacy and rights sector, who advocate for the rights of people with disabilities and their inclusion. They could be working for an NGO or charity, a business, within a governmental organisation, or simply in their local communities to achieve vital change.
3. Arts, Culture & Sports
   ​​​​​​​Women with disabilities from the arts, culture and sports sectors, including but not limited to: artists, actors, comedians, poets, Paralympians, runners, singers, swimmers, writers, etc.

A new category “Organisations of persons with disabilities” is planned to be introduced to highlight the work by organisations of persons with disabilities (OPD). Organisations (including unregistered networks) are awarded for the innovative project/programme(s) that are led and developed by and with women and girls with disabilities. The priority in selection will go to organisations and networks of women and girls with disabilities.

This category will emphasize the importance of the organisations led by persons with disabilities in the shrinking civil society space, and send a strong message of support to disability movement worldwide, especially to the principle of ‘Nothing about us without us’. It also aims to showcase the groundbreaking work done by the organisations of persons with disabilities, in particular the initiatives carried out by and with women with disabilities’ networks.

Nominations usually open around 8th March (International Women’s Day) and close in summer of the same year.

Everyone is eligible to nominate except members of the jury.

Women with disabilities (from the age of 18) can be nominated.

They must fit into one of the three categories mentioned above.

• Jury members and their family members
• Light for the World staff and Board members
• Anyone who does not identify as a woman with a disability

International Disability Alliance, organisations of persons with disabilities and NGOs (including women’s NGOs) can nominate for the “Organisations of persons with disabilities” category

Organisations of persons with disabilities (led by and with persons with disabilities) can be nominated for the Award. Unregistered networks of persons with disabilities are also included into the category as well as networks of women with disabilities. Organisations should be able to demonstrate the innovative programmes run by and with women with disabilities.

Please use the nomination form provided on the Her Abilities website.
In case you find the online form difficult to use, you can also download it, fill it in, and email it to her-abilities@light-for-the-world.org.
All nominees and their nominators will be contacted by the ending of the judging process.

The criteria for the Award were changed in 2022. The selection will be guided by the criteria with the points awarded for each criterion, with maximum 100 points collected.  Priority in selection should go to women from underrepresented disability groups and marginalized groups. The jury will consider the following primary criteria in judging the winner:

1. Impact An individual achieves evident sustainable impact and positive change in the community and/or in their field of work, as demonstrated through statistics and other methodology which can include quantitative and/or qualitative data. (20 points)
2. Leadership and Influence An individual has exercised leadership, inspired a wide range of stakeholders and collaborators to think and behave differently, and has shown dedication to her/their goals and mission, through her/their own efforts – as linked to her/their impact above. (20 points)
3. Opportunity for recognition An individual’s work needs stronger public recognition; her/their efforts in her/their specific field are underreported and undervalued and particularly deserve to be more widely known. (20 points)
4. Innovation An individual advances her/their cause or professional accomplishments in an innovative way – by doing things differently and/or challenging the deep-rooted assumptions which reinforce the status quo. (20 points)
5. Relevance An individual’s story has relevance to issues which are widely regarded as of critical importance to humankind  (e.g. climate justice, gender equality, human rights). (20 points)In addition, the jury may, as a secondary consideration, look at the balance between the three category winners in any given year (including e.g. geographical spread, balance between so called Global South and Global North, diversity in personal profiles, and types of achievements).

The selection will be guided by the criteria with the points awarded for each criterion, with maximum 100 points collected. The priority in selection will go to organisations and networks of women with disabilities.

The following criteria will be used by the jury:

1. Impact on the community

An organization/network has helped to bring about systems change and/or positive outcomes for the benefit of the community. It has made a significant and lasting impact in the community with which they work, as demonstrated by quantitative or qualitative data. (20 points)

2. Innovative projects conducted by and with women with disabilities

An organization’s projects are conducted differently in a given context, they challenge status quo and bring about new services or solutions to the identified problems. These projects are developed and run by and with women or girls with disabilities in the spirit of participation (“nothing about us without us”). (20 points)

3. Reinforcing networks of women with disabilities

An organisation/network pays particular attention to capacity-building and reinforcing the critical role of the network of women with disabilities to help them advance the cause of inclusion, intersectionality and women’s empowerment. (20 points)

4. Leadership and influence

Through dedication to its goals, mission, inclusion of women in its governance and senior positions, an organisation/network has demonstrated  leadership and inspired a wide range of stakeholders and collaborators to think and behave differently. (20 points)

5. Opportunity for recognition

The project and the organization/network address issues in the specific field that are often untold or underreported and deserve to be more widely known. (20 points)

The benefits for the winners are:

• They will join a celebrated network of other successful women who commit to finding opportunities to support each other in their further pursuit of justice, equality and excellence.
• Light for the World will open their networks and will try to ensure speaking opportunities for the winners.
  Light for the World’s communications team will promote the winners’ stories via media and online work, ensuring they and their projects get more of the public attention they deserve.
• They will receive a certificate and a physical award.

Her Abilities is a purely honorary award.

The benefits for the organisation will be:

• Building the organisation’s credibility
• Boosting awareness of the organisation’s achievements and impact
• Exposure to new networks, partners and supporters
• International recognition and amplifying the organisation’s voice

Her Abilities is a purely honorary award.