WorldBlu® Awards | 20th Anniversary Nominations Open — Closes September 25, 2026 Do You Know an Organization
That Leads With Freedom, Not Fear?

Since 2007, WorldBlu Certification has been the leading credential for organizations demonstrating excellence in organizational democracy and freedom-centered leadership.

Certification is earned through the rigorous Freedom at Work Scorecard, which evaluates workplace practices against the 10 Principles of Organizational Democracy.

Organizations must achieve a score of 3.5 out of 5.0 or higher to earn this distinction—proving their commitment to employee empowerment, fostering a thriving workplace culture, and driving business growth.

Any for-profit, non-profit, governmental or educational organization with 5 or more employees that has been in operation for at least one full year can apply to become a WorldBlu certified Freedom-Centered Organization. 

 That’s absolutely fine! That’s an Option 1 nomination above. Just share the company’s name with us, and we’ll take it from there!

Please share who you know — that can still be really helpful! For the personal introduction Option 3, though, we’re specifically looking for a direct connection to the CEO, CMO, or Head of HR/People, since they’re typically the people who can help move a certification nomination forward inside the company. 

That’s actually great — it simply means more than one person thinks the organization deserves to be recognized! We’ll count your nomination too, but don’t worry — the organization will only receive one notification from us. 

For Option 1 and Option 2 nominations, no. Your nomination is completely confidential, and we never share your identity.

A personal introduction, Option 3 above, is a little different, of course, because you’re choosing to make that introduction directly yourself. 

Not at all. Nominating an organization is completely free.

 No. A nomination is simply a way of saying, “We think this organization deserves to be considered.”

We’ll invite them to learn more, and then the organization can decide if and when they’d like to move forward with the certification process. 

No — absolutely not. We don’t want a nomination to turn into a flood of sales emails. We’ll simply reach out to congratulate the organization, let them know they’ve been nominated for this prestigious recognition, and invite them to learn more and apply for WorldBlu Certification if they’re interested. From there, it’s completely their choice whether they’d like to move forward.

The deadline to apply for certification is Friday, September 25, 2026.

The annual WorldBlu List of Freedom-Centered Organizations Leadership + Culture awards will be publicly announced on October 29, 2026.

The Lead with Freedom Summit for all certified companies and the WorldBlu client community will be June 23-24, 2027 in beautiful Athens, Greece. 

WorldBlu was founded in 1997 and is an award-winning global leadership and culture training company, committed to teaching Freedom at Work to clients worldwide, representing over $30 billion in annual revenue in 100+ countries.

WorldBlu has helped hundreds of leading companies and executives in 100+ countries shift from hierarchical leadership and organizational structures toward more freedom-centered, democratic leadership and organizational design, including respected brands such as WD-40, DaVita, HCL Technologies, Mindvalley, Pandora, Hulu, Zappos, GE Aviation, Grupo Elektra, and more.

Research shows that WorldBlu’s Freedom at Work® leadership strategy is proven to deliver on average 700% greater revenue growth compared to S&P 500 companies over three years.

WorldBlu's founder, Traci Fenton, has been recognized as a “Thinkers50 Radar” award winner, the “Oscars” of management, where she was called “a game changer in transforming the culture of organizations.” She was also named a “World-Changing Woman in Conscious Business” by SOCAP and recognized in Inc. magazine as one of the “Top 50 Leadership Innovators,” along with other world-class leaders such as Dan Pink, Brené Brown, and Marshall Goldsmith. She is also recognized as a Marshall Goldsmith “Top 100 Coach” and received the Game-Changer award for “Outstanding Results in Sharing the World.”

Traci has addressed audiences around the world, sharing her message of leading with freedom over fear with individuals from over 100 countries at wide-ranging organizations such as Yahoo!, Fox Interactive Media, the CIA, South by Southwest, Harvard University, Yale University, TEDx, the US Naval Academy as well as appearing at hundreds of other venues and on podcasts, TV, and radio shows.

WorldBlu has been featured in Fortune, Forbes, Fast Company, the Wall Street Journal, The Christian Science Monitor, The New York Times, Inc. Magazine, BusinessWeek, Real Clear Markets, Leader to Leader, US News & World Report, NPR, the BBC, and dozens of other media outlets around the world as well as in over three dozen books.

Not at all. Organizational democracy has nothing to do with political parties, governments, or political ideologies of any kind.

The term refers to how organizations are designed and led — specifically, replacing top-down hierarchy and control with systems where people have a real voice, autonomy, and meaningful participation in the decisions that affect their work.

Organizations of every kind, industry and all over the world — from family-owned businesses to global enterprises — have earned WorldBlu certification. What they all share isn't a political belief. It's a commitment to building cultures where people are trusted, respected, and empowered to do their best work.

At its core, organizational democracy is about power to the people. In today's complex, AI-driven world, top-down hierarchical organizations simply cannot compete — they're too slow, too rigid, and too disconnected to innovate at the speed the future demands.

WorldBlu certification recognizes the organizations bold enough to lead the way in the future of work.

Great, we'd love to connect with you as well!

Please reach out to us at hello@worldblu.com.

We'd love to answer any of your questions!