The Social Innovation Awards launched in early 2009 to an overwhelming response from the business community. The third annual Social Innovation Awards present a forum for companies to highlight their latest practical applications for advancing social and environmental responsibility and innovation throughout their organizations. The categories for the 2011 Social Innovation Awards are:

Finance: Best Social Investment Strategy - Social investment strategy refers to the ways companies invest their financial assets in order to advance causes or programs that have both social and financial returns.

Human Resources: Best Employee Engagement Strategy - This award will go the company that demonstrates the best communications strategy and/or program for activating employees to become involved in corporate sustainability.

Marketing and Communications: Best Use of New Media - This award will apply to both companies and particular brands within companies. This category will award the company that has demonstrated the best use of new media, including gaming, location, social media, listening platforms, crowdsourcing, and mobile devices to advance social and environmental change.

Marketing and Communications: Best Integrated Report - This award category will showcase the company that has done the most to integrate social and environmental assets and liabilities into a seamless combined financial and non-financial report. While the field of integrated reporting remains nascent, this category will award the company that has made the most progress in integrating financial and non-financial performance indicators.

Marketing and Communications: Best Online Report - This award will go to the company that has created the best online and informative experience around a sustainability, CSR, ESG, or integrated “report”.

Marketing and Communications: Best Stakeholder Engagement - Stakeholder engagement involves the methods by which companies participate in multi-way communications with key influencers in their business, including investors, activists, employees, customers or government bodies. Many companies make commitments to stakeholder engagement but often fail to act on the priorities of stakeholders. Companies that wish to win this award should showcase a particular example (or series of examples) of how the company has changed corporate strategy as a direct response to stakeholder input.

Operations: Best Sustainability Performance Award - This award will go to the company that has made the most substantial gains in reducing its “footprint” over the past twelve months while maintaining financial performance.

Product: Best Product Design - New green products involve innovations in product design and efficiency that helps to maintain sustainability throughout the product life cycle.

Product: Best Incorporation of Ethical Sourcing/Certification - This award will be open to both companies and particular brands. The award will go to the company that has made the most integrated and substantial commitment to ethically sourced materials, ingredients, etc.

Philanthropy: Most Strategic Use of Philanthropic Funds - Strategic philanthropy entails the contribution of money or time to causes that align with company operations, such that giving also contributes to the industry's sustainability.

In addition to the ten awards above which will be selected by an international panel of judges, three award categories will be selected through an online, crowdsourced voting process on Facebook.com

Worst Greenwasher - This award will go to the company that has made the most promises to become sustainable but has done the least to achieve them. Justmeans’ News and Editorial Team will select ten participants and the crowd will have the opportunity to vote on the worst greenwasher.

Most Influential Leader - This award will go to the individual that has done the most to advance the sustainability movement. Entries will be solicited from the crowd and the winner will be based on votes and comments.

Best CSR Director Performance - This award will go to a CSR or Sustainability Director who exhibits charismatic leadership and a rare ability to drive social and environmental innovation throughout a company's operations.