The University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton School have established an annual global prize of $100,000 that will recognize and advance the work of organizations devoted to creating sustainable solutions to significant social and economic challenges, with the ultimate goal of putting best practices to work throughout the world.

 The Lipman Family Prize is targeted toward addressing social and economic issues that are usually addressed by nonprofits, non-governmental organizations and the civil society sector. The organization that wins the prize will offer a local approach (or model) that tackles a universal problem, with the potential to transfer the practices to other places.

 “My goal with this award is to expand the benefit of social impact organizations around the world by helping to improve their delivery of services through competition,” says Barry Lipman, a 1970 graduate of Wharton and co-founder of Goldfarb & Lipman, a leading California law firm. Lipman and his wife Marie, who have been active in the social sector for more than 25 years, presented Penn with a gift of $6.5 million in January to establish the prize.

Administered by Penn through the Wharton School, the prize will be awarded each spring. In addition to the $100,000 award, the winner will be offered professional support from Penn, such as the development of a case study, executive education, pro-bono consultation and access to University research centers.

“The Barry and Marie Lipman Family Prize creates a dynamic, long-term collaboration between the Wharton faculty and student body and leading organizations in the field of social impact,” says Thomas S. Robertson, dean of the Wharton School. “With the exchange of our specific knowledge, practice and research in business, the Lipman Family Prize allows for the valuable transfer of this knowledge throughout the world.”

The University will begin accepting applications for the prize in September. To watch a video about the award and to learn more about the application process, visit the Lipman Family Prize website.