Watch: Hilton Foundation announces the 2020 humanitarian prize laureate

Aug. 3, 2020: This article has been updated to include the recipient of the Hilton Humanitarian Prize.

As the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation announces its 2020 Hilton Humanitarian Prize laureate, Foundation President and CEO Peter Laugharn speaks with Devex about the history of the world’s largest annual humanitarian award and the role philanthropy will play in the future of humanitarian aid.

This year, Los Angeles-based nonprofit organization Homeboy Industries has been chosen as the recipient of the Hilton Humanitarian Prize. For over 30 years, Homeboy Industries — the largest gang rehabilitation and reentry program in the world — has offered support and training to those formerly incarcerated. Homeboy Industries’ founder, Father Gregory Boyle, said he hopes the recognition of the award will help to highlight its model of creating a culture of compassion, tenderness, and kinship, which he said can be applied to other contexts and issues.

At $2 million in unrestricted funding, the Hilton Humanitarian Prize is the largest annual humanitarian award in the world. This year, to mark the 25th anniversary of the prize, the foundation has increased the award amount to $2.5 million.

To date, the Hilton Foundation has awarded $36.5 million to recipients of the prize. Selected by an independent, international jury, Homeboy Industries joins the list of prize laureates that includes METAdrasi, SHOFCO, icddr,b, and The Task Force for Global Health.

Watch the announcement in full.