Karman Project Honored with 2024 IAF Excellence in 3G Diversity Award

The Karman Project Honored with 2024 IAF Excellence in 3G Diversity Award

The Karman team is humbled and grateful to announce that The Karman Project has been recognized by the International Astronautical Federation (IAF) with the 2024 IAF Excellence in 3G Diversity Award.

The IAF and its Inclusion, Diversity and Equity Administrative Committee (IDEA) annually recognize a member organization in good standing for “outstanding contributions to the fostering of ‘3G’ (Geography, Generation, Gender) Diversity within the space sector.” Through its projects, community, governance, and leadership, The Karman Project has demonstrated a steadfast commitment to fostering diversity across the key pillars of geography, gender, and generation, as well as disciplinary and economic diversity. Diversity is at the core of the foundation’s mission to promote a peaceful future for space, understanding that the future success of the sector relies on inclusive participation and substantive cooperation. 

Karman’s efforts at geographic diversity extend from the numerous nationalities and cultural backgrounds represented in each cohort of Fellows, the Board of Directors, the core team, and the Selection Committee. Beyond representation, Karman takes particular pride in its active engagement with emerging space leaders and ecosystems. For instance, the flagship Karman Week rotates host country each year, partnering with local organizations in the Maldives in 2023 and this year with a high-impact satellite startup in Bulgaria. 

Karman addresses the pervasive lack of gender diversity in positions of leadership by ensuring female representation in its Fellow and Pioneer programs, which sits at 48%, as well as inclusion and safety measures for non-binary members. On the decision-making front, the Karman Board of Directors has achieved gender parity, three out of four of Karman’s co-founders are female, and the Chair and Managing Director are both female.

Karman’s mission is uniquely equipped to foster the next generation of leadership and collaboration in space. The foundation's commitment to individuals in leadership under the age of 45 ensures a multiplier effect of mentoring and inspiring youth. Karman continues to partner with numerous academic institutions and youth empowerment groups in service to these goals.

But why go just 3G when these days one can go 5? Karman maintains a remarkable level of disciplinary diversity in each cohort of Fellows and within the community at large to increase understanding across sectors and encourage cross-disciplinary collaboration. Far beyond the classic public-private dichotomy, Karman Fellows and Pioneers hail from across the non-profit, policy, consultancy, arts, academic, investment, agency, startup, and corporate spheres, among others. Additionally, Karman strives for economic diversity, ensuring that Karman Fellows from all economic backgrounds are supported in participating in the foundation’s programming with funding and scholarships.

Karman’s true impact, however, is exemplified through the empowerment of its leaders via the Karman Fellowship Program. As a ‘space-for-impact’ foundation, The Karman Project supports the Fellows in addressing six key Impact Themes: Sustainability, Education, Empowerment, Cooperation, Science, and Inspiration. The Fellows implement “Karman Commitments” in line with the Impact Themes regionally across the world. Although in just its 5th year, the Program has already sparked many Karman Commitments by Fellows, mainly under the ‘Space-for-Empowerment’ Impact Theme, that directly address issues of diversity. Such projects brought to life include achieving first-time internet connectivity for a school in Nigeria via satellite, launching a non-profit in France aimed at increasing the accessibility of space education for underrepresented and disadvantaged youth (with a particular focus on young females) through hands-on training and skills development, supporting entrepreneurial secondary students in Rwanda to create products utilizing space technologies to enhance their agricultural economy, and organizing an ‘International Space Challenge’ in Singapore with special scholarships provided to females and students from developing nations in Southeast Asia to attend in person, among numerous others both existing and in development.

The Karman team extends its deepest gratitude to the IAF for this recognition, and to the entire Karman community for continuing to go above and beyond in addressing critical issues surrounding diversity in space affairs.