Nominate

Throughout the year, Georgia Trend publishes several special lists. Many readers have called and written, asking how to nominate candidates for these lists. Here’s the scoop.

2026 Georgia 500 

Nominations for our fifth annual edition of GEORGIA 500 are open from November 1st, 2025 – January 31, 2026, for the next edition of the Georgia 500: The State’s Most Influential Leaders, which will publish in November 2026.

This 5th annual edition will deliver readers an informative, engaging look at Georgia’s most powerful leaders across major industries and organizations. Selections will be based upon extensive research, nominations, and hundreds of interviews, resulting in a selective guide to the Georgians who impact our state.  

Nominations are now open.

Click Here to Make a Nomination.

Legal Elite

The 2026 Legal Elite nomination period will be open Monday, April 6, 2026, through 5 p.m. on Friday, July 3, 2026.

Who do you think are the state’s most effective lawyers? Each December, Georgia Trend magazine’s annual Legal Elite listing highlights the state’s most effective lawyers, as chosen by their peers, in 16 different practice areas.

To nominate, you must be an attorney who lives and practices in Georgia and is a member of the State Bar of Georgia.

You may not nominate yourself, but you may nominate attorneys in your own firm, as long as you nominate an equal or greater number of attorneys outside the firm.

Look for our December 2025 issue to see this year’s Legal Elite.

40 Under 40

The nomination period for the 2026 40 under 40 will be open from Monday, March 2, 2026 through Thursday, April 30, 2026 at 5 p.m.

This will be the 30th year that Georgia Trend honors 40 of the state’s best and brightest under the age of 40. If you know someone who is making a difference on the national stage or is a mover and shaker in his or her corner of the state, if they are under 40 years old as of Oct. 1, 2026, we want to hear about them.

The ideal candidate is someone who is successful in his or her profession and is passionate about community service. There are a few cases in which a day job alone is enough of a qualification, but the state is filled with people who excel from 9 to 5. We’re looking for those whose involvement and commitment goes well beyond what they are paid to do.

Remember, we don’t know these nominees, so paint a picture of their involvement, their passion, their commitment, their excellence – and ask others to chime in with letters of support or separate nominations – this will help us to get to know them and understand why they are potential candidates for recognition. You may also include backup material such as resumes or letters of recommendation.

The nomination period for 2026 will open March 2, 2026. 

Look for the 2025 honorees in our October 2025 issue of Georgia Trend.

Georgian of the Year/100 Most Influential Georgians

Honorees in these annual features, which appear together in January, are selected exclusively by the Georgia Trend editorial staff based on our own knowledge and observations of the state’s power structure. The same holds true for the Notables list that accompanies them.

Although we don’t take nominations for this honor, we’re happy to consider serious suggestions. Feel free to email them to us at editor@georgiatrend.com.