Russell Simmons, Dr. Benjamin Chavis and their Hip Hop Summit Action Network will honor Snoop Dogg, Ciara, Doug E. Fresh, Chris Lighty, Jim Jones and Capital Management president Mellody Hobson at this year's 5^th annual Action Awards celebration.

The awards -- recognizing the outstanding corporate and artistic contributions of hip-hop icons, as well as their dedication and commitment to community service and empowerment -- will be presented at an exclusive fundraising dinner on February 25 in New York City.

Russell Simmons and Dr. Benjamin Chavis, chairman and president/CEO, respectively, of the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network (HSAN) made the announcement via a statement today (Feb. 13).

"HSAN holds the Action Awards to celebrate the importance of people taking action to give back to our communities," Simmons said. "Snoop, Ciara, Doug E., Chris, Jim, and Mellody represent the best of hip-hop and all have uniquely and effectively given back their time, money and energy to help improve the quality of life of all people. HSAN, therefore, is proud to honor each of them with the 2008 Action Award."

BET ExecutiveVice President of Entertainment and Music Programming, Stephen Hill, and Disturbing Tha Peace Records' CEO, Chaka Zulu will serve as the events co-chairs.Lighty, CEO of Violator Management, sponsors annual community events and serves as a board member for the G-Unity Foundation, a 50 Cent project that provides grants to non-profit organizations that help out low-income neighborhoods.

Dipset rep Jim Jones supports community programs in NYC schools; Doug E. Fresh has participated as the co-moderator with Chavis in many Hip-Hop Summit financial literacy Summits around the country; Snoop coaches the Snoop Youth Football League working with young inner city boys; and Ciara works with The VH1 Save The Music Foundation, a non-profit organization designed to restore music education programs in schools.

Hobson, president of one of the largest African-American owned investment firms in the world gives her time to the Ariel Education Initiative and ArielCommunityAcademy in the south side of Chicago where they teach financial literacy to students from pre-K to 8^th grade.

This year's six Action Award recipients will join the ranks of previous honorees, Sean "Diddy" Combs, Jay-Z, Mary J. Blige, Ludacris and The Ludacris Foundation, Kanye West, Earvin "Magic" Johnson, Nelly, Destiny's Child, Jermaine Dupri, Chrysler Financial, Debra L. Lee and BET, Anheuser-Busch, Inc., Pepsi-Cola North America President Dawn Hudson, Tommy Hilfiger and MTV's "Choose or Lose" Campaign and Steve Stoute.