Jan is being awarded because of her four decades’ commitment to improving grassroots women’s lives globally. She is a founder of three organizations – the National Congress of Neighbourhood Women, GROOTS International, and the Huairou Commission. Through the latter, Jan has developed a network of networks bringing together women groups in 45 countries. Because of her strong advocacy, Jan has ensured that the global women’s movement incorporates grassroots women’s groups and that it always takes heed of community development priorities for sustainable human settlements. In addition to raising more than USD 4 million for work with grassroots women, Jan has supported pioneering initiatives that include the Grassroots Women’s Academy held each World Urban Forum and the Local 2 Local Dialogue Process, among others.