Overview 

The YAA Board of Governors Excellence Awards honor alumni organizations and group efforts for excellence in their programs, events, and initiatives in service to Yale and the Yale Alumni Association. The awards recognize groups that inspire other alumni groups to serve their communities with imaginative ideas and meaningful impact.

Eligible groups may include, but are not limited to, Yale College classes, interest groups, regional clubs, and Graduate and professional school associations. The awards honor outstanding achievement in events such as Yale Day of Service, and complement awards for individual volunteers such as the Yale Medal and the YAA Leadership Awards. 

To submit your nomination, please review the information below and follow the instructions.

Deadline for Nominations

• The deadline for nominations is Friday, July 31, 2026, 11:59 PM Eastern Time. 

Eligibility

• Any Yale alumni group may be nominated for any program, event, or initiative that occurred during the 2025-2026 academic year (July 2025 – June 2026). 
• No organization can win an award for essentially the same or similar program, event, or initiative in consecutive years. [Example: an annual conference with similar features might win one year but not the next year. That said, an organization can win in successive years for distinctly different accomplishments. Over time, the Board wishes to inspire alumni by showcasing a variety of efforts.]
• The award selection committee will consider multiple nominations from a single alumni organization or group but will consider only one nomination per program, event or initiative. An organization will not receive more than one award in one year.
• Each nomination should focus on ONE event (or a closely related series of events), program, or initiative. [Example: a group’s full year of unrelated events is not eligible, but a series of events that are closely connected around a topic or theme is eligible. Starting a new group or reviving an existing group is eligible.] 
• Nominations that do not meet the stated eligibility criteria will not be considered.

Nomination Form Questions 

The online nomination form allows you to save a draft and come back to it if you choose to complete the application in steps, provided you do so before submitting your nomination form. You may find it helpful to prepare your answers in a separate document and then transfer them to the form online. The questions are listed below. Note that many responses have a word limit.

• Please provide a brief summary of the program, event or initiative you are nominating, including a description of how the event demonstrated excellence, with regard to the stated judging criteria. Tip: format in the style of a social media post – concise, catchy, and focused on the most compelling highlights. (100-word limit)
• How did this program, event or initiative support the mission of (a) your group or school, and (b) the YAA and Yale? (200-word limit)
• Who was the target audience for this program, event or initiative, and how did you engage this audience with your event? Did your event involve multiple alumni groups or engage those who have not previously been engaged in YAA events? If your nomination is for a Yale College class, describe how your event sought to engage alumni who have previously been comparatively less active in alumni affairs. (200-word limit)
• Describe any aspects of this program, event, or initiative that were particularly creative or innovative (200-word limit)
• Describe the implementation of this program, event or initiative – who was involved in ideation, planning, and execution? What time commitment was involved, and how was it structured? How did the event leaders utilize staff resources or leverage volunteers? What funds were needed and how were they raised? (200 word limit)
• What was the impact of this program, event or initiative and how did your alumni organization measure this? (200-word limit)
• Please submit at least one image that the YAA may use to promote your nomination digitally (social media, email, website). You may also submit up to three additional brief files of supplemental materials (optional).

Do you have questions? 

• Visit the YAA Board of Governors Excellence Awards webpage.
• All nominations will be reviewed in September-October by YAA for eligibility and winners will be selected by a committee comprised of members of the YAA Board of Governors. All applicants will be notified of the decision by the end of October. Selected awardees will be recognized at a recognition ceremony at Assembly & Convocation in November.
• Email Heather Corbett, Senior Director, Yale College Classes (primary staff liaison for the Excellence Awards) or Elyssa Noce ’17 MSN (volunteer co-chair for the Excellence Awards).  
• We use the program Submittable to collect and review nominations. For technical questions about Submittable, check out the Submitter Resource Center or contact Submittable Customer Support.

Ready to apply? Start by creating an account and completing the eligibility questions.