John Legend will present Global Citizen´s Country Hero Award for Mexico to Martha Isabel ‘Pati’ Ruiz Corzo

Global Citizen, awarded Mexico´s Hero Award to Martha Isabel ‘Pati’ Ruiz Corzo for her environmental work conserving the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve and protecting its communities.

The world needs leaders who work to defend and solve the most pressing challenges. We all have the potential to work to change our environment and societies for the better — which is why the Global Citizen Prize honors individuals and organizations around the world who are taking action and who have led with compassion, care, innovation, and dedication to uplift the world’s most vulnerable people.

The Global Citizen Prize special broadcast will air on Saturday, Dec. 19, hosted by John Legend, winner of 11 Grammys, an Academy Award and a Tony Award, who is lending his talents as a presenter, and his voice to honor those who have had a social impact on a world scale.  The anticipated event will have live performances by Gwen Stefani, Carrie Underwood, Jojo, Common, Alessia Caro and Tori Kelly.

There will also be special appearances by Nick Jonas; John Oliver host of HBO show Last Week Tonight; actress and activist Priyanka Chopra Jonas and actor Nikolaj Coster Waldau known for his award winning role as Jamie Lannister in Game of Thrones.

“The Countdown to the Prize,” digital pre-show, hosted by Access Hollywood’s Scott Evans,  which will feature behind-the-scenes interviews with the artists, a virtual red carpet and special packages for award winners. The entire event will be available for digital viewing on Global Citizen’s Facebook and Twitter starting from 7:30 p.m.

Global Citizen is a movement of engaged citizens who are using their collective voice to end extreme poverty by 2030. Through our mix of content and events, grassroots organizing, and an action platform, they are building a movement to end poverty. Global Citizen organizes massive global campaigns to amplify the actions of Global Citizens from around the world.

The Global Citizen Prize this year will recognize awardees in the six following categories: Global Citizen of the Year, Global Citizen Prize for World Leader, Global Citizen Prize for Business Leader, Global Citizen Artist of the Year, Cisco Youth Leadership Award, and Global Citizen Country Hero Award.

The category Country Hero Award honors those people around the world that have demonstrated an exceptional commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals and have defended the most vulnerable.  The award will be presented to remarkable activists and organizations from Nigeria, Canada, South Africa, the UK, Australia, Germany, and Mexico.

First time in Mexico, the recipient of the Global Citizen Hero Award 2020 is Martha Isabel “Pati” Ruiz Corzo for her work in the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve, who was elected by a committee of judges, composed of Ninfa Salinas (President, Grupo Salinas Advisory Councils), Gemma Santana (Head of Sustainable Development in the Office of the President of the Mexican Republic), the Government of Mexico City, Rodrigo Kuri (Executive Representative of Citibanamex), Celine Fernandez (Cartier Mexico & Amnesty International Board of Directors), and Alicia Lebrija (Executive President, Televisa Foundation) who selected her as the winner among the nominees, for the incredible work of Grupo Ecológico Sierra Gorda.

Martha Isabel “Pati” Ruiz Corzo, an ecological activist, co-founded, Grupo Ecológico Sierra Gorda (GESG) in 1987 with the help of local citizens to raise awareness about biodiversity, threats to it and to build a grassroots movement to build a regenerative future in the region of the Sierra Gorda in Querétaro.  In 1997 GESG achieved the naming of the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve, as a Natural Protected Area.  The only example of civil society generating such a change.  Grupo Ecológico Sierra Gorda is a model of entrepreneurship and social participation in the Sierra Gorda, Mexico, where we correlate economic development with biodiversity conservation. 

GESG leads a movement of civil society organizations that form the Sierra Gorda Alliance. This alliance is made up of Bosque Sustentable A.C. (Sustainable Forest), Tourism Products and Services of the Sierra Gorda S.A. de C.V., Joya del Hielo A.C., and Viva Sierra Gorda, a project of Earth Island Institute.  Together we promote this living laboratory of best cultural practices for our planet with interdisciplinary teams and constant monitoring and reporting.

GESG´s results include the continuous operation of a grassroots movement that has transformed the local population´s natural resource management practices as well as re-orienting public spending to incentivize sub-national climate actions.  The Querétaro model for a local climate protocol has been proven and is being replicated in other Mexican states. 

The Global Citizen Prize special broadcast will air on television and livestream, celebrating the people standing up for the world we want.

What’s more, Global Citizen also launched the #My2020Hero social media campaign. Grupo Ecológico will participate and invites everyone to honor the people in your lives who have done something special during this tough year to help others, their community, or the world. 

Follow Grupo Ecológico Sierra Gorda to participate in #My2020Hero and to learn more about our conservation work on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter,  YouTube and LinkedIn.  

To watch the transmission of The Global Citizen Prize Award on television:  

USA: Saturday, December 19 8/7c on NBC

Canada: Saturday, December 19 8/7c on CTV (Bell Media)

Nigeria: Monday, December 21,  9 p.m. on Trace Naija

South Africa: Saturday, December 19,  9:30 p.m. on SABC 3

United Kingdom: Monday, December 21 7 p.m. GMT on Sky One

Singapore: Thursday, December 31 9:30 p.m. on Channel 5

Global: Insight TV & Digital. Check channels and schedules on GlobalCitizenPrize.com.

Other markets: Check channels and schedules on GlobalCitizenPrize.com.

DIGITAL TRANSMISSION

Global Digital Transmission: Sunday, December 20 12 a.m. ET on the Global Citizen channels on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

United Kingdom and digital premiere in Africa: Sunday, December 20 6 p.m. GMT / 7 p.m. CET / 8 p.m. CAT on the Global Citizen United Kingdom, South Africa, Germany pages.