The Mahsa Amini Award

This award is named after the young Iranian girl whose death was a source of inspiration for the Woman-Life-Freedom movement. The Mahsa Amini award aims to promote humanity and freedom by supporting freedom activists across the globe, regardless of their nationality, gender, religion, sexual orientation, country of origin, age, political party, etc. 

 

2024 Mahsa Amini Social Media Contest

This year's award focuses on supporting the Poughkeepsie chapter of the Granny Respond team. The Granny Respond team is a non-profit organization that provides compassionate and respectful support for asylum seekers and immigrants seeking safety and security in the United States. 

Submission Deadline and Instructions

Please use the Mahsa Amini Brightspace website to submit your video. The submission deadline is Monday, April 1, at 11:55 p.m. ET. 

 

Cash Prize

• The first and second place winners, as determined by the award committee, will receive cash prizes of $500 and $300, respectively. Additionally, there will be a $200 cash prize for the audience's choice during the award ceremony.
• The videos of the finalists and award winners will be displayed at the 2024 Marist Social Justice Conference—an invaluable addition to your professional portfolio.

Please note all cash prizes are subject to income tax requirements.

Tips for creating impactful social media content

1. Harness the Power of Storytelling: Humans have an inherent love for stories that spans generations. Storytelling has proven to be an effective way to capture audience attention and make a profound impact. In your content, adopt a creative perspective to narrate the inspiring work of the Granny Respond team, raising awareness about their initiatives. Share compelling stories about immigrants—their journeys, dreams, and contributions to society.
2. Embrace a Creative Approach: Rational ideas are good but good enough to capture attention! Foster creativity by writing down 100 ideas about the content you want to create. Initially, the most rational ideas come to mind, but pushing through to reach 100 allows more creative and novel connections to surface. This effort results in unique, attention-grabbing, and influential content.
3. Search for Interesting Stories: Explore online media or connect with the Granny Respond team during the workshop to discover inspiring stories that can enrich in your content.
4. Include a Call to Action: Conclude your video with a call to action, encouraging your audience to donate to the Granny Respond team or support immigrants. Remember, audiences are more receptive to calls to action after engaging with deep and inspiring stories. If you choose to encourage donations or gifts, here is the links to the Granny Respond Team that you can include at the end of your video or in the caption, if you decide to post it on your social media account: https://www.granniesrespond.org/donate

Here are two examples of effective social media content with creative ideas that raises awareness and calls for support for a social cause. 

 

The Competition Workshop

To aid interested participants in preparing for the competition, we have organized a Social Media Contest Workshop on Wednesday, Feb. 28, in Hancock 2023 from 4 - 5:30 p.m. Light refreshments will be provided. Participants are required to RSVP.

Contest Rules

• You can choose to participate individually or as a group.
• Participants are allowed to use pieces of publicly available images and videos. If you decide to film someone and feature them in the video, you are responsible for obtaining written consent from those whose faces appear in the video [or their voice can be recognized].
• All content must be original and created by the participant. Feel free to leverage AI tools to elevate the creativity and professionalism of your video.
• You are required to submit two files:
  • the video
  • word document that includes the source of information, adopted images or videos, and acknowledges the use of AI tools (if applicable).
• The content must be in video format, lasting longer than 20 seconds but shorter than 2 minutes. 
• Content is encouraged to highlight inspiring stories of immigrants pursuing their dreams or those who support them. Emphasis should be on inspiration rather than tragedy.
• Content must adopt a humane and compassionate perspective, avoiding any political messages. 
• Content is encouraged to answer the following question: Why should someone care about the needs of immigrants? 
• Content must not include severe physical injuries, nudity, or hate speech.
• Winners from the previous year are not eligible to participate in this year's competition.

The committee will select the winner based on the following criteria:

• Adherence to competition rules.
• Creativity of the content.
• Informative and inspirational content.
• Relevance to global citizens, especially generation Z.
• Relevance to other human rights issues.

Committee Members

Director: Dr. Mohammadali Koorank Beheshti, Assistant Professor of Marketing

Dr. Faezeh (Mehr) AmirKamali, Assistant Professor of Management

Dr. Kristin Bayer, Associate Professor of History

Dr. Addrain Conyers, Associate Professor of Criminal Justice

Dr. Amanda D. Damiano, Assistant Professor of Communication

Dr. Kevin Gaugler, Professor of Spanish