Awards

NYLC awards shine a spotlight on exemplary leaders from across the service-learning movement and nurture the leaders of the future. Most awards are presented annually at the National Service-Learning Conference.

Alec Dickson Servant Leader Award

This award honors exemplary leaders who have inspired the service-learning field, positively impacting the lives of young people, and motivating others to take up the banner of service. Dickson worked with young people in his native England and abroad and founded Overseas Voluntary Service and Community Service Volunteers which have — in turn — inspired service programs worldwide. The deadline to submit nominations is October 12, 2012.

The Service-Learning Practitioner Leadership Award

This award recognizes those practitioners who have equipped young people to lead and serve, both through their direct work with youth and by nurturing other practitioners. The deadline to submit nominations is October 12, 2012.

Youth Leadership for Service-Learning Excellence Award

This award recognizes K-12 service-learning programs and projects that demonstrate outstanding youth leadership. The deadline to submit nominations is October 12, 2012.

G. Bernard Gill Urban Service-Learning Leadership Award

This award honors individuals who, by example, have played a leadership role in urban schools, communities, and the lives of young people. Bernard Gill, a beloved NYLC staff member, was a pioneering leader in the urban service-learning movement. He organized the first and successive National Urban Service-Learning Institutes and was passionate about the engagement of African-American males and the impact service-learning could make on their lives.  

Stellar Service-Learning Award

This award recognizes a leader who continues Raudenbush’s legacy in service-learning by equipping young people to lead and serve. The recipient of the award inspires others to imagine and to work for schools and communities that are fair, just, and good for children — values held dear to Raudenbush.

William James National Service Lifetime Achievement Award

This award honors individuals who have demonstrated leadership, professionalism, and integrity and made significant contributions to the advancement of service-learning and national service over the majority of their professional lives. It is named after the philosopher and pacifist William James who described the foundation for nonmilitary service in the United States in a 1906 speech and subsequently in an essay entitled “The Moral Equivalent of War” (1910).