Honoring Today’s Leaders

YWCA Madison invites you, your organization, your firm, or your association to help make the 2024 Women of Distinction Awards extra special by nominating a deserving Woman of Distinction. Please consider the criteria listed below and think about the women you know whose work, volunteer contributions, and life makes a difference in our community. Thank you very much for taking the time to be a part of the 47th Annual Women of Distinction Leadership Awards.

We are proud to have honored over 255 women since the awards began in 1974.

Award Nomination Forms

Download a nomination and nominee support form or an alternative & creative submission form now: Nomination Form, Support Form, Cover Page for Alternative Submission. If you would like a paper copy mailed to you, please contact Jay Young at 608-257-1436, option 3. To aid you in completing the form, we have prepared a list of frequently asked questions. If you have additional questions, feel free to contact Jay.

Nominations for the 2024 Women of Distinction Leadership Awards are due no later than 4:00 p.m. on Monday, April 1, 2024.

Women of Distinction Award Criteria

The Women of Distinction Awards are presented to women who . . .

  • Exhibit leadership skills in their field of expertise.

  • Been a role model and/or mentor to other women and girls.

  • Advocate for positive social change that helps close the leadership gap and create a more equitable society.

  • Demonstrate a commitment to the YWCA mission of eliminating racism and empowering women.

  • Garnered respect within the community.

  • Are dedicated to helping women and girls achieve their goals.

  • Exhibit qualities of teamwork, integrity, and dedication.

  • Reinforce policies, practices, attitudes, and/or actions that are intended to produce equitable outcomes for all.

  • Give back to the community through their time, talent, and/or resources.

  • Live, work, or volunteer in Dane County.

Women of Distinction Award

YWCA Madison presents the Women of Distinction Leadership Awards to women who represent outstanding achievement in their field of endeavor and whose achievements are supportive of the YWCA mission. Awards are presented to women who represent a diversity of race, age, occupation, and endeavor. This award is intended to recognize anyone who identifies as a woman. 

Selection Process

Women of Distinction are selected by a committee of fifteen to twenty community leaders and YWCA board members who meet to consider nominations and make the final selections. Awardees and their nominators will be notified of selection in late March. YWCA will also notify the nominators of non-selected candidates. Nominees who are not selected during the first year they are nominated will be automatically considered for the second year.

Disclaimers and Rules

  • At the time of nomination, the nominee must live, work, or volunteer in the Dane County Area.

  • Incomplete packets will not be considered.

  • Nominations made by an immediate family member (parent, child, or partner) will not be considered.

  • The committee does no further research on the nominee.

  • The nomination will be kept active and on file for two years. Nominators are encouraged to update the nomination annually by adding current activities and achievements of the nominee.

  • We cannot consider a candidate if she is seeking elected office this year. The nomination will be kept on file for the following year if she is no longer in the election process.

  • YWCA Madison staff/sub-contractors, current board members, and Women of Distinction committee members are not eligible to receive the Women of Distinction Leadership Award, nor may these individuals nominate a Woman of Distinction or write letters of support.

  • Submissions become the property of YWCA Madison and will not be returned.

  • A panel of community members and YWCA Madison board members reviews all complete nomination packets. All results and nomination materials are confidential.

  • Award recipients will be notified of their selection once the YWCA Madison board of directors has approved the panel of honorees.

  • Not all categories will be represented in a given year as we can only honor six women.

Nominations for the 2024 Women of Distinction Leadership Awards are due no later than 4:00 p.m. on Monday, April 1, 2024.

 FAQs

About the Women of Distinction Leadership Awards Nomination Process

  • No. This award is intended to recognize living members of our community.

  • No. The committee does not accept nominations from a partner or spouse, even if you work together as business partners, co-business owners, etc. We suggest you talk with others in your community who know your partner/spouse and ask if they would be willing to nominate your partner/spouse. Chances are, your partner/spouse will have other supporters who would be happy to nominate her for a Woman of Distinction Leadership Award.

  • YWCA Madison believes in creating an equitable society for all. We have lots of work to do to make this a reality for women and people of color.

    Eliminating racism means taking a look at policies, practices, attitudes, and actions and changing them in order to produce equitable power, access, opportunities, treatment, impacts and outcomes for all. Racism operates historically, institutionally, and culturally to produce preferential treatment, privilege, and power for white people at the expense of people of color.

    Empowering women means enhancing a women’s ability to:

    make strategic choices in all phases of life,

    obtain the career of her choice,

    improve the economic situation of women individually and collectively, and

    alter existing power structures that previously denied or underutilized women’s strengths.

    The YWCA works towards these goals by:

    Advancing justice through race and gender equity programs that aim to eliminate racism, keep kids in school, and close the leadership gap,

    Helping people find and maintain employment by delivering job training and transportation, and

    Working to end homelessness by providing housing and shelter to ensure that families have a safe space in which to live and grow.

    Women of Distinction Leadership Award recipients should support this vision and reflect that commitment in their achievements. Recipients actively advocate for change that is intended to produce equitable outcomes for all. They serve as role models, mentors, and sponsors for other women and girls to help close the leadership gap.

  • Please fill out the nomination form. Each section has a word limit, so please be clear and concise.

    Include (1) support form. Each section has a word limit, so please be clear and concise.

    Submit an electronic copy of the nomination form and support forms by 4 p.m. on Friday, March 22, 2024, to nominations@ywcamadison.org or submit ONE paper copy at 2040 S. Park Street, Madison, WI 53nominations@ywcamadison.org 713.m description

    Nomination formatting notes:

    Handwritten materials and faxes will not be accepted.

    Please, no binders, laminations or paper clips. Staple only.

    Please do not submit additional materials other than those requested. Resumes and articles are not required.

  • Cover Page

    Video/Audio file – see specific directions below

    Who you are (name and relationship with the nominee)

    Response to each of the questions outlined in the nomination form

    At least two individuals must be represented in the submission OR the video/audio file must be submitted with a support form completed by a second individual. More information here.

    Do not submit additional materials other than those requested. They will not be considered.

    Video/Audio Submission Guidelines

    Submit a short (3-5 minute), cell-phone quality will do.

    Production-quality videos will not be a deciding factor in the selection process.

    Videos/Audio files over five minutes will not be considered.

    Video/Audio Files must be submitted via YouTube, Vimeo, Google link or other video hosting platforms.

    Send link to nominations@ywcamadison.org, along with the cover page.

    If you have any complications, please contact Jay Young at jyoung@ywcamadison.org or 608.257.1436, option 3.

  • No. Please complete this Word version of the nomination form.

  • Yes. In an effort to minimize the use of paper, please double-side your materials.

  • Yes. Using bullet points can help the committee evaluate the nominations more efficiently and can help you make your point in a clear and concise manner.

  • Both. While individuals can make significant contributions to the community in their paid position, the selection committee expects to read a significant amount of information about the nominee’s volunteer work.

  • A Support Form should be filled out by people who are familiar with the nominee’s contributions to the Madison community. Support forms should complement, but not repeat, information included in the nomination form’s required information section. A maximum of 2 support forms will be accepted for each nominee.

  • The names of individuals filling out these forms will be removed from the nomination packet to ensure that the content of each nominee’s recommendations is given priority, rather than the name recognition of the person completing the recommendations. We request contact information in case there are any questions.

  • No. Due to the quantity of information already submitted, the committee asks that you do not include supplementary materials.

  • No. If the honoree is selected, YWCA Madison will arrange to have publicity photos taken

  • No. There is no need to add color, borders or graphics to your nomination packet.

  • Answers to the questions on the Nomination Form are limited to 500 words. As you are answering question 2, remember that this biographical summary will be used as an overview of the nominee by committee members during the selection meeting. Please be specific and give concrete examples here. For example, state “Mary is the owner of XYZ products. She mentors three teenage students enrolled in X School. She serves on the board of X and Y.” etc. This response to question 2 will be more helpful to our committee members than “Mary is a wonderful woman who does so much for her community. She always thinks of other people before herself and is a shining example to everyone.”

    Answers to the questions on the Support Form are limited to 300 words and should be specific and concise.

  • No. Only one person from an organization can be chosen for the award. Should two people from one organization rank in the top six, the nominee with the lower score will be held over to the next year and considered again for the award.

  • Contact Jay Young, Marketing and Event Manager, at 608.257.1436, option 3.