Alan Cumming to Host .ORG Impact Awards to Honor “Mission-Driven” Changemakers (Exclusive)

Alan Cumming is set to host the .ORG Impact Awards in Washington, D.C., The Hollywood Reporter has exclusively learned.

Put on by Public Interest Registry, the nonprofit that manages the .Org domain, the awards are an initiative that aims to highlight mission-driven changemakers and organizations from around the world for their “positive contributions to society,” according to a release. The organization has announced 35 finalists, hailing from more than 87 countries.

Finalists are grouped into seven categories including community building, quality education for all, environmental stewardship, diversity, equity, and inclusion, health and healing, hunger and poverty and rising stars, who are classified as leaders, under 25 that are making a difference in their communities. There are five finalists per category, and they will all receive $2,500.

Jon Nevett, the president and CEO of Public Interest Registry, says the awards have independent judges come in to evaluate applicants, looking to see the impact made. “It doesn’t have to be the biggest or flashiest organization in the world, but we really strive to look at the .Org Impact Awards as a vehicle for really a deep dive into which applicants are having the most impact,” he adds.

“It was kind of a no brainer,” Cumming tells THR about taking on the role of hosting for the awards celebrtation. “I’m excited because going to meet all the people who have been deemed to be doing the most incredible work out of an incredible amount of people around the world doing great things and serving communities for the common good.”

“He’s a widely dedicated philanthropist,” Nevett says about why Cumming makes a great host. “He embodies the spirit of the .Org Impact Awards,” he adds. The 59-year-old actor has earned more than 40 humanitarian awards for his work supporting causes such as civil rights, LGBTQ+ rights, sex education and social justice.

Cumming notes that his background growing up in Scotland influenced him to get involved philanthropically, saying it’s a “cultural thing” to make sure “everyone’s got an equal footing or there’s a safety net.”

“Getting more well known and having more of a platform, that’s been a great thing for me. I actually feel that you actually see that you’re making a change,” Cumming says, adding that it’s a “really great thing about being famous.”

Cumming has had quite a year in terms of hosting, with The Traitors earning him an Emmy nomination for outstanding host for reality or reality competition. “I’m doing this crazy sort of character of a person who lives in a castle and wears all this funny clothes,” the actor says of work on the Peacock show, which was nominated this year for a total of four Emmys.

“Even though I’m becoming more well known for being a host, I actually feel it’s less host-y than a lot of the hosting gigs I’ve done in the past,” he says of the reality show, adding that he loves taking on jobs such as the .Org Impact Awards.

“I will not be wearing a cloak and a veil [to the .Org Impact Awards],” Cumming jokes, referencing his extravagant looks worn on The Traitors.

“I’ll be wearing a nice suit or something, but I’m not saying things like ‘You disappointed yourselves’ and ‘You disappointed me,'” he adds. “It’ll be a more gentle version of the man on The Traitors.”

The finalists for this year’s awards include several organizations such as The Centre for Renewable Energy and Action on Climate Change, which provides clean energy and water to underserved communities in Nigeria and Kids Operating Room, which “strives for a world where every child has access to safe surgery.”

The winner of the .Org of the Year award will receive a donation of $50,000, meanwhile other category winners are expected to each receive $10,000. Winners will be announced in-person at Washington, D.C. celebration on Oct. 8.

Winners from 2023 include Hope for Justice, an organization that works in the UK, U.S., Ethiopia and Uganda to end human trafficking, along with HERhealthEQ, an organization that hopes to “improve women’s health in developing countries by providing access to medical devices and equipment.”

For more information on the .Org Impact Awards and a list of the finalists, visit the organization’s website.