NOMINATIONS OPEN NOW
⋆
NOMINATIONS OPEN NOW ⋆
Recognizing Alumni Making an Impact Toward Education Equity
The Alumni of the Year awards honor distinguished alumni teachers, school leaders, and systems leaders who have shaped equity in education and strengthened our alumni community at the classroom, school, and systems levels. Winners receive a $5,000 award and are honored at our annual gala on May 1, 2025.
For Teachers
The Frances and Elliot Lehman Alumni of the Year Award is an annual award given to an outstanding teacher in the Greater Chicago-Northwest Indiana region who is an alum of Teach For America and has exemplified, shaped, and maintained equitable practices in their classroom.
Nominees must be TFA alumni and should exhibit:
A commitment to culturally responsive and anti-racist teaching practices.
A bold vision for shaping equity in their classroom.
Measurable success for creating meaningful change in their classroom.
For School Leaders
The Zell Family Alumni of the Year Award is an annual award given to an outstanding school leader in the Greater Chicago-Northwest Indiana region who is an alum of Teach For America and has exemplified, shaped, and maintained equitable practices in their school.
Nominees must be TFA alumni and should exhibit:
Transformational leadership that builds a culture of equity across their school community.
Measurable success of intervention, programming, and policies that work to change systemic racism and/or poverty that directly impact their school community.
NEW!
For Systems Leaders
NEW! The Systems Leader of the Year Award is an annual award given to an outstanding systems leader in the Greater Chicago-Northwest Indiana region who is an alum of Teach For America and has exemplified, shaped, and maintained equitable practices within an organization, community, or across a sector, within or beyond the education landscape.
Nominees must be TFA alumni and should exhibit:
The ability to connect, convene, and catalyze a network of people across an organization, community, or sector to reinvent systems to work for our students and schools.
Measurable success in advancing work toward education equity across the education ecosystem, within or beyond the education sector.
Nominate Someone
FAQs
Nominations are anonymous to the nominees.
Any TFA alum is welcome to apply when applications open, but nominating someone ensures that we personally invite the nominee to apply.
The nominator’s statement will be included in their application for the voting committee as additional evidence of support.
The nomination period closes on November 16, 2024, at 11:59 pm.
