Secretary of State’s Award for Corporate Excellence

Winners of the 2024 Secretary of State’s Award for Corporate Excellence

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The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs is pleased to announce six winners of the 2024 Secretary of State’s Award for Corporate Excellence (ACE).  Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken will present these six American companies, large and small, with the award in a ceremony on October 22, 2024, at 11:00 a.m. EDT at the State Department.  The 2024 ACE categories are Women’s Economic Security; Innovation to Strengthen Communities; and Climate Resilience.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Award for Corporate Excellence’s founding. Over this quarter of a century, ACE has highlighted how American businesses have raised the bar of corporate social responsibility and utilized innovative tools and technologies to create positive impacts in the world around them. Though the challenges the global community has faced over the past quarter of a century have changed, U.S. companies remain at the forefront of generating lasting solutions.

2024 Award Recipients

ACE Winners in Women’s Economic Security

Parker Clay, a medium-sized American leather goods brand, has employed 200 workers at its factory in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Over 80 percent of employees are women, many of whom are survivors of human trafficking and are earning a paycheck for the first time.

 Bank of America in India’s commitment in India goes beyond business, with social impact initiatives transforming the lives of over 300,000 women and girls across the country, focusing on education, skill development, sanitation and hygiene infrastructure, and employment opportunities.

ACE Winners in Innovation to Strengthen Communities

 Koster Keunen, a medium-sized company, has created a market for beeswax in seven West African countries, introducing modern, sustainable techniques to transform a previously overlooked by-product of honey production into a new industry.

 Over the course of its 32 years operating in Colombia, Branch of Microsoft Colombia Inc., has partnered with NGOs, universities, companies of all sizes, and the national and local governments to expand internet connectivity, build digital skills, and foster economic inclusion for Colombia’s vulnerable and underserved communities.

ACE Winners in Climate Resilience

 Rizome a small company, has pioneered the use of engineered bamboo in the construction industry from its flagship project in the Philippines. Rizome is using innovative technology to create a sustainable alternative to other construction materials, while reforesting with fast-growing bamboo.

 Newmont Corporation, a mining company in Suriname, has invested in environmental conservation as well as education, healthcare, and economic opportunities, creating lasting positive impacts — particularly in indigenous communities.

25 Years of the ACE Awards