More than 450 Stevie® Award winners, their guests, and Stevie judges gathered for The 22nd annual American Business Awards® at a gala on Tuesday, June 11 at the Marriott Marquis in New York City.

For those unable to attend, the ceremony was streamed live on Vimeo. You can watch the full ceremony replay on our site and our YouTube channel.

More than 3,700 nominations were submitted to the 2024 competition by organizations and individuals. Gold, Silver, and Bronze Stevie Award winners in the various categories were announced in April, as selected by the ratings of more than 300 professionals worldwide. Winners of five Grand ("best of show") trophies were announced in May, while winners of People's Choice Stevie Awards, chosen in a worldwide public vote, were announced later in May.

The American Business Awards recognize achievement in the workplace in a wide variety of categories and have come to be recognized as the premier business awards program in the United States.

View and download photos from the event here.

How the Awards Were Presented
To start the evening, gala attendees first enjoyed a formal reception in the lounge outside of the ballroom, providing an excellent opportunity to network and establish new business connections with other Stevie-winning professionals and leaders. This was followed by a dinner and the awards presentations.

During the presentations, each organization was introduced individually. A short video produced by the Stevie Awards showcased the winning organization, followed by the winners' acceptance speech on stage. After receiving their award(s), winners were invited to the red carpet area outside the event room for interviews, where they were asked two questions:

• "What does winning a Stevie Award mean for your organization?"

• "How will winning a Stevie Award help your organization?"

Acceptance speeches and interview clips will be available on the Stevie Awards YouTube channel.

Winner Highlights
All organizations operating in the USA–large and small, public and private, for-profit and non-profit–were eligible to submit nominations to the ABAs in a wide range of categories. This year, we witnessed a surge of nominations in categories like Product Innovation, Innovation of the Year across diverse industries, and Technology Categories, mirroring the influence of new and emerging technologies shaping our nation.

One of first winners honored on stage was Boost Payment Solutions of New York, NY. A global leader in B2B payments, Boost Payment Solutions seamlessly serves the needs of today's commercial trading partners, eliminating friction and delivering process efficiency, payment security, data insights, and revenue optimization.

Boost Founder and CEO Dean M. Leavitt was there to take home a Gold Stevie for Best Financial Services Entrepreneur, and the company itself earned two additional Gold Stevies and a Bronze Stevie Award for Achievement in Finance, Company of the Year, and Most Innovative Company of the Year, respectively.

Attending from Rochester, NY, Kodak was also among the first organizations honored. Internationally recognized, Kodak manufactures industry-leading hardware, software, and services for commercial print, packaging, publishing, manufacturing, and entertainment. They earned a Gold Stevie Award for Best Business Technology Pivot for their Inkjet Print Technology.

Also celebrated that evening was RED @ Vanguard, the in-house agency at Vanguard, a Grand Stevie Award winner for Most Honored Marketing Agency of the Year. The Grand Stevie Awards are best-of-competition prizes awarded to only a handful of organizations that submit the best body of work to the competition, in their own name or in the names of one or more clients, or have the highest-rated nomination in the competition. The Grand Stevie Award trophy cannot be applied for directly.

Based in Malvern, Pennsylvania, RED @ Vanguard specializes in creative and strategic marketing solutions to support Personal Investor Marketing at Vanguard. The agency earned 14 points for three Gold, one Silver, and two Bronze Stevie Award-winning nominations.

Organizations at the ceremony that won three or more Gold Stevie Awards include:
Advanced Drainage Systems (Columbus, OH), Cisco (San Jose, CA), Hilton Software (Coral Springs, FL), IBM (Armonk, NY), Logical Position (Lake Oswego, OR), and The Stories and Wisdom Company (Seattle, WA). 

Other winning organizations that were in attendance include:
1800Flowers.com, Inc., (Jericho, NY); American Bar Association, (Chicago, IL); DHL Supply Chain (Westerville, OH); eBay Inc. (Draper, UT); Fidelity Investments (Jersey City, NJ); Kaiser Permanente (Oakland, CA); Liberty Bankers Insurance Group  (Dallas, TX); Lockheed Martin (Bethesda, MD); PissedConsumer.com (Las Vegas, NV); Shawarma Press Franchising (Irving, TX); Toshiba America Business Solutions (Lake Forest, CA), and many others. See full list of winning organizations in attendance.

Watch the full ceremony here. 

Sponsors of The 2024 American Business Awards include Melissa Sones Consulting and SoftPro.

The 2025 American Business Awards
Entries for the 2025 edition of the American Business Awards will be accepted starting this October. Join the mailing list for the entry kit and it will be emailed to you then. Learn more about The American Business Awards at https://www.stevieawards.com/aba. 

More than 450 Stevie® Award winners, their guests, and judges will attend The 22nd Annual American Business Awards® presentations on Tuesday, June 11 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City.  

Gold, Silver, Bronze, Grand, and People's Choice Stevie Award winners in the program were announced in April and May.

The American Business Awards recognize achievement in the workplace in a wide variety of categories, and have come to be recognized as the premier business awards program in the U.S.A.

More than 300 professionals around the world participated in the judging process this year to determine the winners.

Here is the list of organizations that will be represented at Tuesday's event.

1800Flowers.com, Inc., Jericho, NY
Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc., Hilliard, OH
Aetna Better Health of Illinois, Chicago
Agape Network, Miami, FL
Albertsons, Pleasanton, CA
Alight Retiree Health Solutions, Lincolnshire, IL
AlphaSense, New York, NY
American Bar Association, Chicago, IL
Anthology Communications, Washington, DC 
Appcast, Lebanon, NH
Arbor Scientia Group, Carlsbad, CA
ARDASS, Manteca, CA
Arm, Cambridge, United Kingdom
AvePoint, Jersey City, NJ
BDS Connected Solutions, Irvine, CA
Beyond Finance, Houston, TX 
Black Girl PR, Phoenix, AZ
Boost Payment Solutions, New York, NY
Boston Scientific, Marlborough, MA
Brightpoint AI Inc, Coral Springs, FL 
Brightpoint Infotech, Coral Springs, FL 
BroadwayHD, New York, NY
Buy From A Black Woman, Atlanta, GA
Cadence, San Jose, CA
Callzilla, Miramar, FL 
Caseware, Atlanta, GA
Ceyhinz Link International Inc, Irving, TX
Change and Innovation Agency (C!A), Wardsville, MO
ChristianaCare, Wilmington, DE
Cisco IT Security, San Jose, CA
Cisco Systems, San Jose, CA
Citizens, Providence, RI
City of Westland, MI
CleverTap, San Francisco, CA
Collaborative ABA Services, LLC, Middletown, CT 
Consensus Health, Marlton, NJ
Corn Refiners Association, Washington, DC
CQL, Grand Rapids, MI
CURE Insurance, Princeton, NJ
Current Global, Chicago, IL
Cushman & Wakefield, Chicago, IL
Daniels Fund, Denver, CO
DHL Supply Chain, Westerville, OH
Dickinson Financial Corporation, Kansas City, MO
Digital Culture Group; Atlanta, GA
Digitys, Irving, TX 
eBay Inc., Draper, UT
Epler Health, Inc., Wellesley, MA
EquitiFy, Pleasant Hill, CA
Etched Communication, Houston TX
Fidelity Investments, Jersey City, NJ
Fidello, Inc, Canandaigua, NY
Fire Safety Research Institute, Columbia, MD
FTI Consulting, New York, NY
Givelify, Indianapolis, IN
Gov2Biz Inc, San Antonio, TX
Government Employees Health Association, Inc., Kansas City, MO
Greencastle Consulting, Malvern, PA
GS Lab | GAVS, Princeton, NJ
Halteres Associates, San Ramon, CA
Hamilton, Indianapolis, IN
Heirloom Traditions Paint, Taylorsville, KY
Helm Creative Studio, Philadelphia, PA
Help at Home, Chicago, IL
Her Unapologetic Success, Laguna Beach, CA
Hilton Software, Coral Springs, FL
Hive Group, McLean, VA
Hooked on Code, LLC, Dallas, TX
IBM, Armonk, NY
Impact XM, Dayton, NJ
InstaMortgage Inc, San Jose, CA
ISN, Dallas, TX
Jasmine Norris Photography, Lafayette, IN
Journey To Licensure, Philadelphia, PA 
Julie Zhu LLC, New York, NY
Kaiser Permanente, Oakland, CA
Kellanova, Chicago, IL
Kodak, Rochester, NY
Lenovo, Morrisville, NC
Liberty Bankers Insurance Group, Dallas, TX
Loanspark, Newton, MA
Lockheed Martin, Bethesda, MD
Logical Position, Lake Oswego, OR
LTSE, New York, NY
Magnit, San Francisco, CA 
Management Development Solutions, West Chester, PA
Melospeech Inc, Temecula, CA 
MicroHealth LLC, Vienna, VA
Miller Tanner Associates, Memphis, TN
MINGALAR Corporation Phoenix, AZ
N-able, Burlington, MA
Namely, a Vensure Employer Solutions Company, Chandler, AZ
National Corporate Housing, Greenwood Village, CO
nCino, Wilmington, NC
Nearsure, Wilmington, DE
Neudesic, Irvine, CA
NIX, Tampa, FL
Northern Trust Corporation, Chicago, IL
Options For All, San Diego, CA
ORO Event Co., Tampa, FL
Otter PR, St. Petersburg, FL
Pacific Life, Newport Beach, CA 
Palo Alto Networks, Santa Clara, CA
PartnerLinQ, Cranbury, NJ
Pazanga Health Communications, Newport Beach, CA
PissedConsumer.com, Las Vegas, NV
PrimeRx, Uniondale, NY
PrismHR, Hopkinton, MA
Productboard, San Francisco, CA
Prominent Global Solutions, Washington, DC
QualiZeal, Irving, TX
Reckitt, Parsippany, NJ 
Reform Austin, Austin, TX
Reputation House, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Revolve Solutions LLC, Alexandria, VA
Shawarma Press Franchising, Irving, TX
Shield Screening, Tulsa, OK
Sigma Computing, San Francisco, CA
Sofidel America, Horsham, PA
SolarWinds, Austin, TX
SpartanNash, Grand Rapids, MI
Tencue, Emeryville, CA
The Association for the Protection of Asian Women in America, New York, NY
The Financial Literacy Youth Initiative, Cranston, RI
The Flock, Miami, FL 
The Stories and Wisdom Company, Seattle, WA
TIAA, Charlotte, NC 
Toshiba America Business Solutions, Hazlet, NJ 
Trellix, Plano, TX
Vanguard, Malvern, PA
West Pharmaceutical Services, Exton, PA
West Point Association of Graduates, West Point, NY
Western Resource Advocates, Boulder, CO
Wheels, Bannockburn, IL
WorkForce Software, Livonia, MI
Worldpay, Cincinnati, OH

The entry window for the 2025 edition of the ABAs will open this October.  Join the mailing list to be sent the entry kit when it's available.

Are you ready to take your business to the next level with prestigious awards recognition? Join us for a game-changing webinar on "How to Prepare an Effective Stevie® Awards Nomination"!

Business awards are not just accolades, they're powerful tools that showcase your credibility, elevate your brand, and pave the path for future success. Crafting a compelling Stevie® Awards nomination, however, requires reflection, finesse, and skill.

This 1-hour webinar will take place on Zoom on May 14, 2024, at 10:00 AM EDT. 

We invite individual professionals, executives, entrepreneurs, and leaders from organizations worldwide—large and small, public and private, for-profit and non-profit—to register for this free learning opportunity.

Hosted by the Founder and Executive Chairman of the Stevie Awards, Michael Gallagher, this exclusive webinar will provide invaluable insights from past winners, seasoned judges, and industry experts.

Learn firsthand what it takes to clinch that coveted Stevie accolade! Here's what you can expect:

• Behind-the-scenes peek into the awards entry and judging process
• Pro tips and best practices from Stevie Award winners, judges, and industry gurus
• Learn the art of storytelling to captivate judges and highlight your unique value
• Understand the criteria and nuances that set Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Grand Stevie Awards apart
• Guidance on navigating the nomination process, from account setup to submission
• Expert advice on selecting the right competitions and categories to maximize your chances.
• Access to a treasure trove of Gold Stevie Award-winning nominations for inspiration.

 Guests you can expect to hear from in the webinar include: 

• Susan Turkell, Chief Executive Officer, PAIRELATIONS, LLC
• Çağatay Kayabaş, President of Business Awards Consulting, and the official Stevie Awards representative in Turkey

In the last section of the webinar, attendees can engage in a live Q&A session to get answers to all their burning questions.

Register now to secure your spot and unlock the secrets to crafting award-winning nominations. Plus, enjoy on-demand access to the webinar and presentations until the end of 2024.

Delta Dental of Kansas, 5W Public Relations Among Those to Win Big in 22nd American Business Awards

The Stevie® Awards announced today the Grand Stevie Award winners in The 22^nd Annual American Business Awards^® competition. Winners will be honored during the ABA awards banquet on June 11, 2024 in New York City. Registration for the event is now open.

All organizations operating in the USA - large and small, public and private, for-profit and non-profit - are eligible to submit nominations to the ABAs in a wide range of categories, honoring achievement in every aspect of work life, from customer service and management to public relations and product development. 

This year more than 3,700 nominations were considered in the judging process by more than 300 professionals, whose average ratings determined the Gold, Silver, and Bronze Stevie Award winners announced in April. For a complete list of the 2024 Stevie Award winners, visit http://www.StevieAwards.com/ABA.

The Grand Stevie Awards are best-of-competition prizes awarded to only a handful of organizations that submit the best body of work to the competition, in their own name or in the names of one or more clients, or have the highest-rated nomination in the competition. The Grand Stevie Award trophy cannot be applied for directly.

2024 Grand Stevie winners in The American Business Awards are as follows:

Organization of the Year: With 36.5 award points, earned through seven Gold, four Silver, and five Bronze Stevie wins, Delta Dental of Kansas, Wichita, is the most honored organization in The 2024 American Business Awards. The firm is the largest dental benefits company in Kansas.  As a member of the Delta Dental Plans Association, a national network of dental service corporations, they share in the role of being the largest dental carrier in the USA. This award is determined by the total number of awards won in the ABAs, with a Gold Stevie win counting for 3 points, a Silver Stevie for 2 points, and a Bronze Stevie counting for 1.5.

Highest-rated New Product or Service of the Year: with an average score from the judges of 9 out of a possible 10, the nomination of the SugarCRM Platform by SugarCRM, Cupertino, California, received the highest average score of all new product or service nominations this year. The nomination also won the Gold Stevie for Best Relationship Management Solution.

Highest-Rated Nomination of the Year: with an average score of 9/5/10.0, the "Launch campaign of EY.ai - EY's unifying AI platform," submitted by EY GS LLP, the global business consultancy, also won Gold for New Product or Service Introduction of the Year in the competition's marketing categories.

Most Honored Marketing Agency of the Year: Red @ Vanguard is the in-house agency at Vanguard, in Malvern, Pennsylvania. The agency earned 14 points for Gold, Silver, and Bronze Stevie Award-winning nominations for its work in support of personal investor marketing at Vanguard.

Most Honored Public Relations Agency: 5W Public Relations, based in New York, New York, earned 22 award points for Gold, Silver, and Bronze Stevie wins for nominations submitted on behalf of itself and clients CarParts.com, Epres, Foxwoods Resort Casino, G-SHOCK, InDrive, Perion, Restaurantware, and The Strong National Museum of Play. 5WPR last won this Grand Stevie in 2021.

One final group of 2024 winners, determined by a public vote in the People’s Choice Stevie Awards for Favorite New Products component of the ABAs, will be announced in late May.

Sponsors of The 22nd annual American Business Awards include Golden Hour, Melissa Sones Consulting, and SoftPro.

Nominations for the 2025 edition of The American Business Awards will be accepted starting this October. The entry kit may be requested at http://www.StevieAwards.com/ABA.

The Stevie® Awards, organizers of the world’s premier business awards programs, today announced the Gold, Silver, and Bronze Stevie winners in The 22nd American Business Awards®.

All organizations operating in the USA–large and small, public and private, for-profit and non-profit–are eligible to submit nominations to the ABAs in a wide range of categories, honoring achievement in every aspect of work life, from customer service and management to public relations and product development. 

More than 3,700 nominations were considered in the judging process this year by more than 300 professionals worldwide, whose average scores determined the winners.

Winners of three or more Gold Stevie Awards include:

5WPR (New York, NY), Adobe (San Jose, CA), Advanced Drainage Systems (Columbus, OH), AT&T Business Multimedia Services (Dallas, TX), Boost Payment Solutions (New York, NY), Cisco (San Jose, CA), Delta Dental of Kansas (Wichita, KS), EY (global), George P Johnson Experiential Marketing (Auburn Hills, MI), Hilton Software (Coral Springs, FL), IBM (Armonk, NY), Logical Position (Lake Oswego, OR), Nature’s Sunshine (Lehi, UT), Netcracker Technology (Waltham, MA), PayJunction (Santa Barbara, CA), RHC, In-house Agency at Vanguard (Malvern, PA), Soapy Joe’s Car Wash (Santee, CA), State Farm (Bloomington, IL), Stride, Inc. (Reston, VA), The Home Depot Backyard (Atlanta, GA), The Stories and Wisdom Company (Seattle, WA), and TopSpot Internet Marketing (Houston, TX).

Among other winners, organizations with five or more Gold, Silver, or Bronze Stevie wins include:

American Tire Distributors (Huntersville, NC), Autoleap (Atlanta, GA), C-Strategies Inc. (Chicago, IL), Calix (San Jose, CA), DHL Supply Chain (Westerville, OH), Fierce Inc. (Seattle, WA), Hearts & Science (New York, NY), ISN (Dallas, TX), Microsoft (Redmond, WA), Mountain View Group, Ltd. (Schenectady, NY), Octane (New York, NY), Pay To Me, Inc. (Palo Alto, CA), PeopleTec, Inc. (Huntsville, AL), Praxis AI (Sacramento, CA), Ruder Finn (New York, NY), SucceedSmart (Los Altos, CA), TriNet (Dublin, CA), VMware (Palo Alto, CA), Windstream Enterprise (Denver, CO), and Wolters Kluwer (nationwide).

For a complete list of the Stevie Award winners announced today, visit http://www.StevieAwards.com/ABA.

Winners of six best-of-show prizes will be awarded Grand Stevie Award trophies, to be announced the week of April 29.

2024 Stevie winners will be celebrated during an awards banquet on Tuesday, June 11 at the Marriott Marquis in New York City. Tickets for the event are now on sale.

The categories that recognize outstanding new products and services introduced in the USA are among the most heavily subscribed in the ABAs. Every new product or service nominated in The 2024 American Business Awards is included in voting for the People's Choice Stevie Awards for Favorite New Products, an annual feature of the ABAs in which the general public votes for their favorite new products. Voting opens April 26 at http://peopleschoice.stevieawards.com and will conclude on May 24. People’s Choice Stevie winners will be announced the week of May 27 and will be honored during the June 11 awards presentations.

“We are delighted to acknowledge the wide range of American organizations in The 2024 American Business Awards," stated Michael Gallagher, founder and Executive Chairman of the Stevie Awards. "This year, we witnessed a surge in nominations in categories like Product Innovation, Innovation of the Year across diverse industries, and Technology Categories, mirroring the influence of new and emerging technologies shaping our nation. We look forward to honoring the achievements of Stevie winners on June 11 in New York City.”

Sponsors of The 22nd annual American Business Awards include Golden Hour, Melissa Sones Consulting, and SoftPro.

The Nation’s Top Honors for Workplace Achievement Will Accept Final Nominations Through April 3

The Stevie® Awards, organizer of The American Business Awards®, announced today that the final entry deadline for the 22nd annual competition has been extended through April 3. The original final deadline was March 6. No additional late fees will be charged. Entries submitted through the new deadline will not be penalized in any way in the judging process.

The American Business Awards are widely considered the premier business awards program in the U.S.A. All organizations operating in the U.S.A. are eligible to submit nominations— public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large, and small. The 2024 awards will honor achievements since the beginning of 2022. Entry details are available at http://www.StevieAwards.com/ABA.

The American Business Awards recognize achievement in every facet of the workplace. Categories include:

• Entrepreneur Awards
• Achievement Awards
• Management Awards
• Company / Organization of the Year Awards
• Customer Service Awards
• Human Resources Awards
• Technology Awards
• Marketing Awards
• Sustainability Awards (New for 2024)
• New Product & Product Management Awards
• Corporate Communications, Investor Relations & Public Relations Awards
• Apps, Events, Publications, Videos, and Websites Awards
• Thought Leadership Awards
• Social Media Awards

More than 250 professionals nationwide will participate in the judging process through mid-April. The Gold, Silver, and Bronze Stevie® Award winners will be announced on April 25 and celebrated during a gala event in New York City at the Marriott Marquis Hotel on June 11.

Every new product or service nominated in The 2024 American Business Awards will automatically be included in voting for the People's Choice Stevie Awards for Favorite New Products, an annual feature of the ABAs in which the general public votes for their favorite new products. Voting will open on April 26 and conclude on May 24.

The list of past Stevie Award winners in The American Business Awards reads like a who’s who of innovation and business success in the U.S.A. Explore the list of last year’s winners.

Create or log in to your existing American Business Awards entry account to submit  nominations here: https://stevieawards.com/aba

Stevie-winner ReadSpeaker is a voice technology company providing text-to-speech for learning content with natural-sounding voices.

ReadSpeaker tools are a critical component of making content accessible, more comprehensible, and engaging. Their tools are cloud-based, so they can be accessed anywhere, anytime, for any content and on any device.

With ReadSpeaker embedded into a Learning Management System (LMS), a website, or learning content, the user can choose from 68 languages and over 245 voices. They can choose from a suite of reading and writing tools; personalize their reading speed, highlighting preferences, font, size, colors, and more; and select distraction-free “text-only” mode.

There are several solutions and certified plug-ins available to institutions of higher education—each meeting Learning Tools Interoperability standards for interoperability—and it can be customized depending on the application.

Moodle Text-to-Speech Plugin
In September 2022, ReadSpeaker released a text-to-speech plugin for Moodle, a free and open-source LMS, so that students could listen to content on the Moodle LMS with a single click of a button.

With ReadSpeaker in Moodle, all learners can access course content within the Moodle learning environment and have an equal learning experience. A student might need content in their LMS read back to them in another language, or more slowly (or even faster). They might have a learning disability or be vision impaired, or they may not be fluent in English. Sometimes students benefit from modal-modal learning, listening to and reading along with the text simultaneously.

One of the most significant reasons why ReadSpeaker is a vital addition to websites and learning content is helping to meet the needs for those needing assistance due to learning disabilities. Websites and content meeting Universal Design for Learning standards help all learners to be successful.

Disability services on campus can use ReadSpeaker to read exams to students with dyslexia or visual impairments, which ensures a level playing field and removes the inconsistencies of using human readers for exams.

VoiceLab
ReadSpeaker VoiceLab has opened an entirely new product class—custom digital voices—for nearly any industry vertical. VoiceLab has refined the process of creating custom digital voices—including how voices are processed, mapped, and digitized—to the point where the model can be replicated in any region, for any market, or for any language and audience.

By incorporating lexicon and context into voice solutions—ranging from voices for simple installations to enhanced human prosody for more sophisticated deployment—VoiceLab has provided voices and in some cases, custom voices for several global companies including Sonos, Strongmind, Vasco Translator M3, Soft Leaf Studios, and others.

Over the 20 years since ReadSpeaker's founding, education, inclusivity, and accessibility have been the core guiding principles of the company. They continue to support accessible initiatives in special education and have a larger goal to make the entire web an inclusive experience for all by using voice.

ReadSpeaker won a Silver Stevie^® Award for Best Solution for Special Needs Students in The 2023 American Business Awards^®.

Interested in entering The 2024 American Business Awards?

Stevie-winner Appen is a global leader in data for the AI lifecycle, with over 25 years of experience in data sourcing, data annotation, and model evaluation by humans.

Appen leverages the expertise of over 1 million skilled contractors who speak over 235 languages in over 170 countries to give leaders in technology, automotive, financial services, retail, healthcare, and governments the confidence and capabilities to launch innovative AI intelligence systems and products.

Enabling organizations to launch, update, and operate unbiased AI models, Appen demonstrates its commitment to creating AI for everyone through a variety of projects and partnerships focused on the diversity of languages and dialects. This includes Translators without Borders, the Inuktitut translation project, and African-American Vernacular English datasets.

By specializing in data for the AI lifecycle, Appen is enabling companies to execute, expand, and improve AI initiatives. Appen is trusted by the world’s leading businesses like Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Salesforce, and Adobe.

Commitment to Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I)  
As a part of Appen's commitment to inclusivity, the company partners with several Impact Sourcing organizations that help refugees, developing countries, or under-resourced communities earn a living. One example is a recent partnership with Mercy Corps Ventures, bringing microwork to those without access to traditional forms of banking through stablecoins.

Additionally, Appen improved its platform to be more transparent about pay for Appen Crowd workers by implementing a "Recommendation Engine" to provide guidance on pay. While paying a fair wage is a core value, the latest product improvement provides clients with a better-estimated wage per task, so the client can be confident the minimum wage is met. This process shows commitment to equity, inclusivity, and wellness of our Crowd, and the ability to provide work to unemployed/underemployed communities.

Appen’s partnerships with organizations like Translators Without Borders provide employees the chance to work on new and exciting projects to help improve the world for others.

Appen’s mission is to reduce bias in AI models. Businesses are now using AI to venture into previously unexplored territory, which leaves a greater possibility of inaccurate, incomplete training datasets to build AI models and an increased likelihood of biases.

Quality Data Essential for Quality AI
Human-in-the-loop data plays a crucial role in eliminating bias across AI applications. Biases of socioeconomic, demographic, and other origins are always an inherent risk when deploying AI models. Humans evolve over time and having a human in the loop to monitor the model as the data drifts becomes crucial for data science teams to continue to deploy safe, holistic, and inclusive models. Using human-in-the-loop datasets, Appen makes safer, more inclusive AI deployment and scaling a reality. 

To give businesses the insight they need to make informed decisions about their AI initiatives, Appen recently released its 2022 State of AI report. The sought-after 8th annual State of AI report is a cross-industry effort aimed at providing an overview of the status of AI and machine learning through input from businesses and their senior decision-makers and technical practitioners. Appen partnered with The Harris Poll to collect and analyze the survey data to ensure unbiased results. Appen’s 2022 report surveyed 504 participants across North America and Europe to understand AI adoption, the maturity of data management across the AI lifecycle, and the value placed on responsible AI.

The 2023 report reveals that, although AI adoption has slowed following the surge prompted by the global pandemic, companies are shifting their focus to ethics, data diversity, and maturing their use of AI. Appen’s research also found that sourcing quality data is the biggest hurdle to creating AI. To successfully build AI models, organizations need accurate and high-quality data, but business leaders and technologists are experiencing a significant gap in data accuracy. The report also dives into industry trends such as the increased reliance on synthetic data and the prioritization of ethics in AI projects.

With over 25+ years of experience putting together high-quality training data that strives to be free of unconscious bias, Appen’s robust synthetic datasets allow companies to break away from traditional AI data limitations and reduce human bias. Pairing this synthetic data in conjunction with authentic, historical data points ensures that datasets are robust, accurate, and realistic. These capabilities are making strides across several industries, such as automotive, financial services, retail, and healthcare.

Appen won a Bronze Stevie^® Award for Most Innovative Tech Company of the Year - Up to 2,500 Employees in The 2023 American Business Awards^®.

Interested in entering The 2024 American Business Awards?

Stevie-winner Lucid Reality Labs is an immersive technology consulting, design, and development company creating immersive, extended-reality training and simulations for healthcare, MedTech, pharma, aerospace, and defense.

The company creates virtual reality simulation solutions with elements of gamification for training, education, and collaboration scenarios. Through these scenarios, users explore, interact, learn, and build skills as well as master procedures attached to the role in a risk-free, controlled environment.

They also offer mixed reality (MR) solutions that merge physical and digital worlds, people, and virtual beings, revealing new opportunities for human, computer, and environment interactions. This creates new forms of remote collaboration, operations improvement, reskilling, and upskilling of the workforce while promoting safety and creativity.

Their solutions transform the way people perceive information, play, learn, collaborate, shop, socialize, and explore the world. The goal is to create immersive solutions with a positive impact, by going the extra mile, focusing on team synergy, client collaborations, and deep tech expertise.

"Seeing the Problem"
"Seeing the Problem" The Extended Reality (XR) Ophthalmology Macular Disease Simulation is a new product that was developed in collaboration with pharmaceutical company Roche and launched in October 2021 in the Houses of Parliament in the Palace of Westminster, UK. 

This unique immersive tool was built to demonstrate age-related macular degeneration in real-time. It helps users experience and learn what it is like to live with these symptoms and face everyday life challenges.

The product aims to raise awareness and recognition of macular disease conditions among healthcare practitioners, patient associations, and the public to facilitate understanding, bring attention, and help prevent macular disease in its early stages.

The product was built using visual materials, medical specialists' insights, and patient feedback to ensure accurate condition representation. Developers used one of the most advanced MR headsets on the market for the experience, the Varjo XR-3. This specific headset is designed to offer a high level of visual fidelity and realism, making it suitable for various professional use cases such as training, simulation, design, and research.

In this experience, there is an eye-tracking function, making it impossible to avert from the symptoms and see-through capabilities that overlay the real-life objects and surroundings with the condition symptoms in real time (e.g., visual distortions, increased blurriness of printed words, and well-defined blind spot in their field of vision).

The main benefit of this product is that healthcare practitioners, medical students, and patient associations obtained an opportunity to experience the macular disease condition firsthand and thus better understand the condition and the patient experience.

"Seeing the Problem" The Extended Reality (XR) Ophthalmology Macular Disease Simulation presentation to the UK Members of Parliament drove active communication around the eye care topic and brought governors, professional associations, practitioners, and journalists into dialogue. The product is planned to be expanded globally, with the US presentation in the next few years.

Lucid Reality Labs won a Gold Stevie^® Award for Best Emerging Technology in the New Products & Services Categories in The 2023 American Business Awards^®.

Interested in entering The 2024 American Business Awards?

Stevie-winner XpertPatient.com is a next-generation, personalized website experience designed to empower those new to a cancer diagnosis with easy-to-understand information and resources.

Founded in 2021, site creators aim to help individuals and families devastated by a cancer diagnosis achieve better treatment results. By guiding visitors through a personalized website experience, XpertPatient.com provides resources, educational material, and community for patients, making a complex and overwhelming life situation easier to navigate and understand.

While cancer research and treatments have seen incredible progress over the past decades, unfortunately, little advancement in the approach to patient education has occurred. Through partnerships with patients, caregivers, cancer experts, and health innovators, the website offers curated content through a proven customer experience design. AI functions and adult learning techniques are also integrated into the programs.

XpertPatient breaks down the complex world of cancer into a personalized education experience for each visitor. Not only is the content curated by cancer type and stage and sub-type if known, but the platform also offers visitors the opportunity to choose their preferred learning format: easy-to-read text, AI-powered audio over high-resolution medical illustrations, or curated videos from top institutions.

Developers feel that the real game-changer element delivered by XpertPatient.com is that the site allows visitors to compare, side by side, their FDA-approved treatment options. For example, how will the side effects compare? Pill vs infusion? Hair loss vs shaky hands? Understanding all the options and the associated side effects is important as patients work with their treatment team to find the best choice given their daily needs and goals.

Launching in 2022, their patient education experience today supports 90% of the diagnosed cancer community. In 2023, they have added more online Cancer Information Centers to their existing 13, getting closer to supporting 100% every day.

XpertPatient has the talent, expertise, technical foundation, and passion to continue to innovate and grow on behalf of patients and collaborators as their needs change, including patients with other chronic illnesses. This focused yet fluid model for design, development, and deployment sets XpertPatient up to help as many people as possible while achieving long-term business success.

XpertPatient.com won a Bronze Stevie^® Award for Startup of the Year - Consumer Services Industries in The 2023 American Business Awards^®.

Interested in entering The 2024 American Business Awards?