This article was originally published by LeaderStories.

During this year’s American Express Leadership Academy Global Alumni Summit, Atlas Corps and American Express will honor one alumni with the 2017 American Express Leadership Academy Alumni Award. This award was created to recognize an Academy Alumni who has continuously demonstrated strong leadership and who has had a significant impact on their organization and the sector. The award will be announced at the Alumni Summit in April 2017, and will include a $25,000 grant to their organization.

Meet the five finalists – each an effective and innovative leader in his or her own right – and stay tuned to learn which one will receive this award.

Blair Glencorse
Executive Director, Accountability Lab
Twitter: @blairglencorse
Blair Glencorse is founder and executive director of the Accountability Lab, an organization that is catalyzing a new generation of active citizens and responsible leaders around the world. Mr. Glencorse is also a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Anti-Corruption and Transparency and Partnering Against Corruption Initiative (PACI). Previously, Mr. Glencorse was a Social Impact Fellow at the Center for High Impact Philanthropy at the University of Pennsylvania, an advisor to the now President of Afghanistan, Ashraf Ghani and worked for the World Bank on issues of governance and development. He is an Echoing Green Fellow and International Bar Association Fellow. Previously, Mr. Glencorse was a winner of the BMW Foundation Responsible Leaders Award, the World Technology Award and the D-Prize.

“The most rewarding part of working with the Accountability Lab is helping to support young people with incredible ideas. There is so much creativity in the countries we work in – and finding ways to channel this into accountability and civic participation is a privilege.”

Erica Hamilton
Executive Director, City Year New York
Twitter, Org: @ehamilton
Erica Hamilton is the executive director and vice president of City Year New York. In this capacity Erica oversees a $12 million + budget and leads 55+ staff members to recruit, train and manage over 250 young adults who serve as full-time tutors, mentors and after-school program managers in NYC public schools. Prior to her current role, Ms. Hamilton spent over a decade managing and designing educational, professional and leadership development programs at organizations including: Prep for Prep, Sponsors for Educational Opportunity, the Institute for Youth Entrepreneurship and iMentor. Ms. Hamilton has also spent over a decade working in the private sector leading teams to design and implement programs and implement strategic initiatives at Goldman Sachs and Citigroup. Ms. Hamilton also currently serves on the board of directors for Community Roots Charter School in Brooklyn and the Arbor Brothers Foundation and teaches at NYU’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. Ms. Hamilton received her M.B.A from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, her M.P.A from the Wagner Graduate School at NYU and her B.A. from Harvard.

“Being a great leader is a journey, not a destination. Great leaders are always seeking to become better leaders and seek out the help and resources they need to do so continuously.”

Emily May
Executive Director, Hollaback!
Twitter: @emilymaynot
Emily May is an international leader in the movement to end harassment. In 2005, at the age of 24, she co-founded Hollaback! in New York City and in 2010 she became its first full-time executive director. Under her leadership, the organization has scaled to over 50 cities in 25 countries, and launched HeartMob, Hollaback!’s platform is designed to support people being harassed online. In the wake of the election, Ms. May launched #100days100dinners, a collaboration to designed to bring people together to bridge difference. Ms. May believes that through the power of storytelling, decentralized leadership, and deep empathy we can disrupt cycles of hate and create a world where everyone has the right to feel safe and confident. Ms. May has a master’s degree in social [policy from the London School of Economics, is an Ashoka Fellow, a Prime Movers Fellow and has won over ten awards for her work including the TEDCity 2.0 Prize.

“In this moment in history, Hallaback is rising to the challenge: training those who can help, supporting those who have been harmed, and working towards a more civil civic discourse.”

Jessica Santana
Executive Director, New York On Tech
Twitter: @JessWorldwide
Jessica Santana is an entrepreneur, technologist, writer and philanthropist who is passionate about people, products and building community. In 2014, she​ co-founded New York On Tech (NYOT), an organization that creates pathways for underrepresented students into degrees and careers in tech. NYOT’s work has been featured in media outlets such as Forbes, CNN and Huffington Post and they have been able to forge partnerships that reach students in all five boroughs of NYC.
Ms. Santana has been named to the​ Forbes 30 Under 30 list​, Wells Fargo Millennial Activist, an Ashoka / American Express Emerging Innovator, a Pahara Institute Next-Gen Leader, Camelback Ventures Social Innovation Fellow and a World Economic Forum Global Shaper. She is a member of the NationSwell Council and one of the ambassadors for the NCWIT and Televisa Foundation’s TECHNOLOchicas initiative. She contributes​ to The Huffington Post, Univision and LinkedIn. Prior to NYOT, she​ worked as a technology consultant for global brands that include Accenture and Deloitte.

“I feel honored to be selected as a finalist for the American Express Leadership Academy Global Alumni Award. I am inspired by the members of this community and I am truly humbled by the opportunity to be recognized.”

Victoria Wisniewski Otero
Human Rights Advocate
Twitter: @victoria_rights
Victoria is a human rights advocate based in Hong Kong. From 2012 to 2016, she worked at Justice Centre Hong Kong as Advocacy and Campaigns Manager, and NGO assisting vulnerable forced migrants – refugees, other people seeking protection, victims of torture, human trafficking and forced labor.

She pioneered an innovative human rights and advocacy training program for refugees called Voices for Protection to over 60 refugees from over 20 countries of origin. In 2016, she was selected Chair of the East Asia Working Group of the Asia Pacific Rights Network. Victoria is also the co-author of a seminal report called Coming Clean, estimating the prevalence of forced labor amongst migrant domestic workers in Hong Kong. Victoria is currently embarking on a project called Resolve, which aims to provide grassroots leaders from underrepresented ethnic minority communities with rights awareness, advocacy skills and mentoring through a fellowship.

It aims to bring together local ethnic minorities (Hong Kong residents, migrants and refugees) under a collective banner for the first time to combat racial discrimination and promote a more inclusive and multicultural Hong Kong. Victoria has also worked as a Researcher at the Center for Economic and Social Rights (CESR) and UN HABITAT Kuwait. She holds a Masters from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID) in Geneva, Switzerland and a BA, magna cum laude, in Economics and Political Science from the University of Maryland, College Park. She is also a core member of the organizing team of TEDxWanChai.

“For me, the most rewarding element of exercising leadership is about enabling others to lead. Helping others to succeed, especially when the odds have been stacked up against them, is a great motivator for me.”

The award will be announced at the end of the Alumni Summit 2017 Livestream on April 3 here , and will include a $25,000 grant to their organization. Tune in to see who wins.

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