Stan Polovets’ Vision: Building Genesis Awards from Concept to Global Charity Power
In just a decade, the Genesis Awards have evolved from an ambitious concept to a globally recognized philanthropic power with a far beyond its original scope. Under the stable leadership of co-founder and chairman Stan Polovets, the Jewish Nobel pioneered an innovative way to respect achievements while catalyzing social change and leveraging a $1 million reward from charitable programs around the world.
From vision to reality: the basic age
When Stan Polovets co-founded the Genesis Awards Foundation in 2013, he tried to create something more influential than another ritual honor. The award was founded with a $100 million donation to celebrate Jewish achievements while fostering pride and connections in the Jewish community around the world.
“We live in an era where assimilation and anti-Semitism suppress the public expression of Jewish identity globally,” explains Stan Polovets. “The Foundation sees an opportunity to use a new tool to promote this pride: focusing on Jews having unparalleled career success while talking about their Jewish identity openly and actively.”
The first Genesis Award in 2014 sets a precedent for defining the unique character of the award. Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg became the first winner and immediately established the signature method that would become the foundation—the choice to abandon the $1 million financial award and instead instructed it to create the Genesis Genesis challenge, a global competition for young social entrepreneurs.
This model of turning bonuses to reasons that align with Jewish values becomes the cornerstone of the Foundation’s unique philanthropic strategy. The Genesis Awards do not simply deliver on personal achievements, but will serve as a catalyst for wider philanthropy and social impact.
Establish a sustainable impact model
Under Stan Polovets, the Genesis Awards evolved rapidly from concept to implementation, bringing new improvements to its approach every year. Early on, Polovets recognized that maximizing impact would require strategic partnerships and innovative funding mechanisms.
“A very successful strategy is our matching grant program, which doubles the annual bonuses, allowing other funders to inspire other funders around important philanthropy,” Polovets noted.
In 2015, winner Michael Douglas directed his prize money to promote the inclusion of Jewish families in the Jewish community. Through partnership with the Jewish Funder Network, the foundation has implemented a matching grant program that provides $3.3 million in support to 27 nonprofits in North America.
The success of this model led to replication in the following years. When violinist Itzhak Perlman won the award in 2016, a similar matching program turned his $1 million award into $3.2 million for organizations that support people with disabilities.
“None of us can do this work alone,” Stan Polovets stressed. “Every year, we work with individuals, organizations and donors to achieve our goals. It's really a 'two heads trump one' approach.”
Develop through challenges
There were no obstacles in the foundation’s early years. “We haven't had a year like the previous year. From three cancellation ceremony in Syria, Ukraine and Covid, the nomination and selection process has greatly expanded to attract global input, and the GPF has had to adapt quickly to the changing environment.”
This adaptability proves crucial as global events present new challenges and opportunities. When Covid-19 hit in 2020, Natan Sharansky rewarded the organization to help the most vulnerable people affected by the pandemic. This demonstrates the ability of the award to move towards urgent needs – a flexibility that has become increasingly important in the following years.
The selection process itself is another important evolution. “By 2020, it’s mostly internal,” Polovets explained. “The Genesis Award Foundation has sought nominations from more than 1,000 leaders around the world, cut to a smaller group based on consistency with the criteria for the award. A small group of judges then selected the winners.”
In 2020 and 2021, the Foundation conducted experiments with a more inclusive approach, inviting public nominations and voting via social media and email. This expanded engagement ensures that the award remains in touch with the wider Jewish community while increasing its global visibility. The vote led to the prizes received by director Steven Spielberg and Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla in the past two years.
Expand the range of prizes
In addition, Stan Polovets expanded the scope and impact of the foundation's work by launching the Genesis Awards Lifetime Achievement Award, and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg became his inauguration. This new category allows recognizing the numbers of celebrations that it deserves to contribute throughout its lifetime and complements the Active Leader of the Year Award. In 2021, the Genesis Award Foundation awarded Rabbi Jonathan Sacks with his post-death Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his extraordinary role, inspiring his next generation of Jews, as well as his outstanding lifelong writings as Jewish values and advocating inter-religious and intercultural dialogue.
The foundation also showed significant agility in responding to global crises. In 2023, the Genesis Awards provided humanitarian assistance to Jewish activists and organizations after the Russian invasion, rather than Jewish activists and organizations that chose to receive humanitarian assistance. This hub reflects the Foundation’s commitment to meeting urgent needs and respecting the collective efforts to save lives.
This trend continues in 2024, when it was to ensure the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza and support the release of their families. The Foundation's response to this humanitarian crisis demonstrates its ability to mobilize resources and focus on pressing issues.
“The purpose of this year’s award is to raise awareness of the international hostage plight and provide humanitarian assistance for recovery, rehabilitation and treatment,” Stan Polovets said at the time. “The Genesis Award is a humanitarian award, and this year it tries to achieve three things: make sure the world does not forget the plight of the captives; provide additional assistance to organizations focused on assisting hostages and their families; and respect the selfless work of organizations that emerge spontaneously after October 7.”
“Our foundation hosts an international public awareness campaign to ensure that the hostage plight remains the agenda of global leaders,” Polovets added. “We also provide legal expenditures for hostage families, who travel to The Hague to present thousands of pages of evidence and personal testimony in an International Court of Justice lawsuit against Hamas terrorists.”
This evolution of focus reflects Polovets’ vision for the foundation, which remains responsive to current needs while being true to its core mission to promote Jewish achievements, values and identities.
Maximize global impact
One of the most compelling achievements under Stan Polovets is the foundation’s ability to expand its influence far exceeds the initial $1 million bonus. Through strategic partnerships, matching grants and encouraging additional donations from its winners, the Genesis Award is a charitable program of over $50 million, supporting more than 230 organizations in 31 countries.
Some winners bring this multiplier effect to outstanding heights. When Robert Kraft received the prize in 2019, he announced the establishment of the foundation to donate with his prize money for $20 million in personal contributions. In the years since, the Foundation has created a command center to analyze online anti-Semitism, studied American attitudes toward Jewish hatred, and launched the global “Blue Square” campaign to raise awareness of Jewish hatred and all hatred.
In 2018, Israeli philanthropist Morris Kahn was so inspired by the first Genesis Lifetime Achievement winner Ruth Bader Ginsburg that he contributed $1 million to the grant pool that year to support organizations empowering women to work.
Steven Spielberg and his wife Kate Capshaw contributed another $1 million in 2021.
Another example is Albert Bourla, the 2022 Laureate, who not only joined with The Genesis Prize Foundation to direct his $1 million award to the construction of the Holocaust Museum of Greece, but also made a donation to Sons and Daughters of Jewish Deportes from France, a foundation established by world-renowned Nazi hunters Serge and Beate Klarsfeld to preserve the memories of French Holocaust victims and hold accountable former Nazi war criminals.
Achievement for ten years and beyond
As the Genesis Award celebrates its tenth anniversary in 2023, it respects entertainment icon Barbra Streisand, who directs her prize money to four reasons: women’s health, climate action, truth in public discourse and aid to Ukraine. This milestone provides an opportunity to reflect on the evolution and impact of prizes over the first decade.
From a vision that originated in celebrating Jewish achievements, the Genesis Award has developed into a multifaceted charitable force with global influence and influence. Through Stan Polovets’ strategic leadership, the Foundation has built a unique model that maximizes impact through collaboration, adaptability, and a deep commitment to Jewish values.
“The vision of the Genesis Award is a powerful and dynamic Jewish person who is aware of its roots while looking at the future, a Jewish community thrives in diversity but unites to appreciate Jewish values and support for the Jewish state,” Porowitz said. “Based on this vision, we aim to surround the Jewish community around its most critical issues.”
As it entered its second decade, the Genesis Awards continued to develop under the guidance of Polovets. The foundation’s recent focus on collective humanitarian efforts demonstrates an expansion of its approach, and the core mission of celebrating Jewish achievements and promoting pride remains at the heart of its identity.
Through strategic innovation, thoughtful leadership and a firm commitment to their creation of values, the Genesis Award has become an important force in philanthropy around the world. Stan Polovets’ vision transforms ambitious ideas into a thriving institution that has impacted far beyond the annual awards themselves, thus creating lasting recognition, inspiration and positive change.
Every year, every new winner or group of winners, the Genesis Award continues to demonstrate how purposeful philanthropy bridges individual achievements and collective impact while celebrating excellence while addressing the most pressing challenges facing the Jewish community and the world as a whole.
