Genesis Prize facts for kids

Quick facts for kids The Genesis Prize
Date	2013; 12 years ago (2013)
First awarded	2014

The Genesis Prize (Hebrew: פרס בראשית) is a special award of $1 million given each year to Jewish people who are very successful in their jobs and use their fame to help others. Winners are recognized for their great achievements, their work to make the world a better place, and for living by positive Jewish values.

The prize is sometimes called the "Jewish Nobel Prize" because it's a very high honor in the Jewish community. There is also a Genesis Lifetime Achievement Award for people who have made amazing contributions over their entire lives.

History of the Prize

The Genesis Prize was created in 2012. It was started with a $100 million fund from five businessmen: Mikhail Fridman, Pyotr Aven, German Khan, Stan Polovets, and Alexander Knaster.

The prize is managed by the Genesis Prize Foundation. It works together with the Office of the Israeli Prime Minister and the Jewish Agency for Israel, an important organization that connects Jewish people around the world.

Over the years, there have been some notable moments. In 2018, winner Natalie Portman decided not to attend the award ceremony because she disagreed with a political leader who was scheduled to speak. In 2021, Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks was given a Lifetime Achievement Award after he had passed away. His wife accepted the award for him from the President of Israel, Isaac Herzog.

A very special fact about the prize is that every winner has chosen to donate their $1 million prize money to charities and causes they care about.

How Winners Are Chosen

A special committee chooses the winner of the Genesis Prize each year. The members of this committee are leaders who are known for supporting Jewish causes. Some famous people who have been on the committee include Nobel Prize winner Elie Wiesel, former Israeli Supreme Court president Meir Shamgar, and author Natan Sharansky.

Since 2020, you can have a say too! The foundation opened up the process to let people all over the world nominate and vote for who they think should win. Hundreds of thousands of people have participated. However, the final decision is still made by the prize committees.

Prize Winners

Here is a list of the amazing people and groups who have won the Genesis Prize.

Year	Winner		Known For	Country	Why They Won
2014		Michael R. Bloomberg	Businessman and former mayor of New York City	United States	For his excellent work in public service and for being one of the world's most generous philanthropists (a person who gives money to good causes).
2015		Michael Douglas	Actor and movie producer	United States	For his work as an actor, his role as a UN Messenger of Peace, and his connection to his Jewish heritage. He used his prize money to help programs that welcome families with mixed religious backgrounds into the Jewish community.
2016		Itzhak Perlman	World-famous violinist	Israel /  United States	For being an inspiration to many by overcoming challenges to become one of the greatest musicians. He used his prize money to support programs for people with disabilities and to promote the arts.
2017		Anish Kapoor	Sculptor and artist	United Kingdom /  India	For being one of the most creative and important artists of our time. He used his prize money to help refugees from the war in Syria.
2018		Natalie Portman	Actress	Israel /  United States	For her dedication to social causes and her strong connection to her Jewish and Israeli roots. She donated her prize money to programs that support women's equality.
2018		Ruth Bader Ginsburg	Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States	United States	Lifetime Achievement Award. For her work to create a fair society where everyone has an equal chance to succeed.
2019		Robert Kraft	Businessman and owner of the New England Patriots	United States	For his charity work and his efforts to fight against anti-Semitism (prejudice against Jewish people).
2020		Natan Sharansky	Human rights activist and former Soviet dissident	Israel	For his lifelong fight for freedom, democracy, and human rights. He used his prize money to help find solutions to the COVID-19 pandemic.
2021		Steven Spielberg	Famous movie director and producer	United States	For his amazing contributions to movies, his charity work, and his efforts to teach people about the Holocaust. He donated his prize money to groups fighting for racial and economic justice.
2021		Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks	Chief Rabbi and respected teacher	United Kingdom	Lifetime Achievement Award. For inspiring young Jewish people and for his life's work as a teacher of Jewish values.
2022		Albert Bourla	CEO of Pfizer	Greece /  United States	For his leadership in developing the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in record time, helping to save millions of lives.
2023	Jewish activists and groups supporting Ukraine		Charity groups		For their brave work to help the people of Ukraine and defend their country's independence.
2024	Israeli groups supporting hostages and their families		Support organizations		For providing care, counseling, and support to hostages who were rescued or released, and to their families.
10th Anniversary		Barbra Streisand	Singer, actress, and director	United States	For her incredible 60-year career in music and movies and her work to make the world a better place.
2025		Javier Milei	President of Argentina	Argentina	For his strong support of Israel during a very difficult time in its history.

Winners by Country

This chart shows where the prize winners come from. Some people are counted more than once because they have citizenship in multiple countries.

Country	Number of Winners
United States	9
Israel	3
United Kingdom	2
Argentina	1
India	1
Greece	1