2025 Empower Youth Success Awards
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Community Schools Champion Awards
These awards recognize individuals and organizations—such as youth, caregivers, teachers, principals, community school directors, superintendents, policymakers, and community partners—who have demonstrated outstanding commitment to advancing the community schools strategy. Awardees have shown exemplary leadership in championing this transformative approach to education and community engagement.
Excellence in Policymaking
This award honors elected officials or agency employees who have demonstrated exceptional leadership in shaping policies that support community schools. The recipient:
- Advocates for policies that promote high-quality community schools, ensuring all students and families have the resources they need to succeed.
- Effectively communicates the impact of community schools to diverse stakeholders.
- Champions democratic and equitable policymaking processes at the state and national levels.
Excellence in District Leadership
This award recognizes a superintendent or district leader who exemplifies exceptional leadership in supporting community schools. The recipient:
- Demonstrates strong, collaborative leadership at the district level.
- Advocates for the community schools strategy on behalf of children and families at state or national levels.
- Actively engages decision-makers and stakeholders to promote the benefits of the community schools strategy.
Excellence in Collaborative Leadership
This award celebrates outstanding leadership by a principal and community schools director/coordinator. The recipients:
- Maintain a consistent and diverse Advisory Board or School Leadership Team that embraces shared leadership and diverse voices.
- Work collaboratively to address the needs of students, families, and the community.
- Build integrated systems of support and strategic partnerships.
- Promote inclusive and equitable shared decision-making processes.
Excellence in Rigorous Community-Connected Classroom Instruction
This award honors a classroom teacher who demonstrates outstanding leadership in integrating community-connected classroom instruction. The recipient:
- Delivers instruction that is both academically rigorous and deeply connected to the community.
- Implements restorative practices to foster a supportive classroom environment.
- Actively participates in leadership roles, such as serving on an Advisory Board or School Leadership Team, championing community schools in union or faculty meetings, or supporting expanded and enriched learning opportunities.
Excellence in Powerful Student & Family Engagement
This award recognizes a student and their family member who exemplify exceptional leadership in fostering meaningful engagement. The recipients:
- Promote equitable practices that involve students and families in decision-making and governance structures.
- Strengthen relationships through effective communication between families, schools, and the community.
- Actively participate in community school events and programs.
- Bridge home, school, and community resources to support student success.
Network for Youth Success Awards
The Network For Youth Success Quality Leadership Award
This award spotlights leadership by an afterschool, summer, or expanded learning site leader, director, supervisor, or coordinator. The winner of this award:
- Has five or more years of experience in administering/directing afterschool, summer, or expanded learning programs; or education and non-profit administrators that advocate on behalf of their afterschool programs.
- Understands the critical value of quality afterschool, summer, or expanded learning programs in the developmental needs of youth.
- Has made significant contributions to the afterschool, summer, or expanded learning field. This could entail being actively engaged with a youth development organization, providing training in the field, or advocating for the afterschool movement and profession.
- Olympia Wilson (Global Kids)
- Marino Frias (West Side Community Services)
The Network For Youth Success Exemplary Award of Professionalism
This award spotlights professional excellence by a staff member in the afterschool, summer, or expanded learning professions. The winner of this award:
- Has worked directly with youth for at least 2 years of their career.
- Currently works a minimum of 15 hours a week in an afterschool, summer, or expanded learning program.
- Has an inclusive understanding of the developmental needs of children, youth, and families.
- Is committed to professional growth.
- Taylor Rae Cooper (Mosholu Montefiore Community Center)
- Fatima Elabed (West Side Community Services)
The Network For Youth Success Program Award of Excellence and Innovation
This award spotlights an organization, department, or program that is accredited to standards of excellence through the Network for Youth Success. The winner of this award:
- Has operated for at least two years.
- Can be public, private, or faith-based afterschool, summer, or expanded learning program.
- Meets the highest standards of quality in the field.
- Implements programming with enriching activities that promote higher learning.
- Incorporates collective strategies between family and the community to meet afterschool needs of the attendees.
- West Side Community Services
The Network For Youth Success Champion Award
This award spotlights entities and individuals, including youth, caregivers, and those working in the field, with philanthropic groups, at corporations, or at agencies or other institutions who have demonstrated exemplary advocacy efforts to champion high-quality afterschool, summer, and other expanded learning opportunities for youth. The winner of this award:
- Has demonstrated significant leadership in supporting high-quality afterschool, summer, or expanded learning and development opportunities that support youth success in school, college, work, and life.
- Advocates to promote effective afterschool policies and outcomes on behalf of children and families at the state or national level.
- Actively leads and/or participates in efforts to educate decision makers and other stakeholders about the benefits of afterschool, summer, and other expanded learning opportunities.
- Senator Zellnor Myrie (New York State Senate)
- Shawn Jean-Louis (ExpandED Schools)
