The International Award for Benefit to Society

One of the purposes of Mensa International, Ltd., is to "identify and foster intelligence for the betterment of humanity." The charter of the Mensa Education & Research Foundation states that one of its purposes as "assisting intellectually gifted people in the development of their intellectual and social abilities so that they can better benefit society." In pursuit of these two goals, Mensa International and the Mensa Foundation have founded an award recognizing a specific accomplishment that benefits society.

The accomplishment should be innovative in some respect. It may be a single achievement such as an invention, or it may be the cumulative effect of several innovative accomplishments, but it must be shown to have a tangible benefit to a substantial number of people. Consideration will be given to the number of people impacted.

Acceptable activities include, for example, new education programs for employees, clients or business associates; programs designed to educate the public; novel philanthropic efforts; and intellectual research and development. Political activities are excluded. View examples of winning entries for the similar American Mensa award.

Eligibility
Nominees must be members in good standing of an officially recognized national Mensa or be a direct international member in good standing of Mensa International. Especially encouraged are business executives, governmental and military leaders, and others impacting groups of individuals. Nominations may be made personally or be made by another Mensan or group with the written consent of the nominee. If you're a member of American Mensa, you're eligible for the U.S. Intellectual Benefits Award.

The nomination process
Nominations and all other correspondence must be in English. While nominations may be made at any time, the usual deadline is May 1.

Fill out this form to submit an online nomination. You may upload as many as five pages of supporting documentation such as testimonials or journal or newspaper articles. These files may be in .pdf, .txt, .doc, .rtf or .wpd format.

For more information on this award, email the Award Committee Chairman.