Awards

In December 2018, the City of New Orleans Ethics Review Board adopted an ethics awards program. The program is comprised of two awards, the Liaison Award and the Torch Award.

Liaison Awards

The ERB awards Liaison Awards annually to ethics liaisons whose departments meet minimum compliance qualifications.

Torch Award

The ERB awards the Torch Award annually based on applications reviewed by an independent panel of members of the community. The criteria for the Torch Award are as follows:

  1. The nominee demonstrates a commitment to ethics as demonstrated by speeches, correspondence, and other communications.
  2. The nominee has demonstrated through a mission statement or other document that the nominee’s department, board or commission has committed to honesty, integrity, and compliance with the law in general, and ethics law in particular. Applications of ethics policy or philosophy that are unique to the challenges of the department, board or commission are critical to this criterion.
  3. The nominee has communicated in publications, employee handbooks, training courses or other materials, the ethical standards and culture of the department, board, or commission and its expectations of employees. The unit should indicate whether and how ethical conduct by employees is measured and show that employees throughout the organization understand and accept the department’s ethical standards as indicated by survey results, internal audits, or demonstrated behavior.
  4. The nominee has shown that ethical issues are being addressed proactively by empowering employees, constituents, and other parties to use existing mechanisms to bring ethical problems to the attention of management. Specific examples of how such mechanisms are used by employees and other department constituents and information on outcomes of ethical problems or conflicts are important to this criterion.
  5. The nominee has produced a narrative description of ethics in action as demonstrated by the department’s response to a specific challenge affecting its operations, or by evidence of how ethical decision-making is a part of the department’s everyday operations, philosophy, and culture.
  6. The nominee has demonstrated other relevant innovation or action regarding ethics in the department, board, or commission.

The Board would welcome any applications or nominations for the Torch Award from each city department, board or commission. Applications are due July 1st of each year.

Applications should be sent to: Dane.Ciolino@nola.gov.

For PDF flyers about these awards, click here:

  1. Torch Award Flyer
  2. Liaison Award Flyer