Overview
The Awards and Scholarship Committee oversees Association Forum’s awards and Forty Under 40® recognition program. The committee identifies and honors exceptional talent, nurtures future leaders, and promotes the Association Forum Awards and Recognition program.
Working in collaboration with staff, the committee develops scholarship criteria and processes to ensure fair, transparent, and merit-based selection. Through this work, the committee strives to elevate standards of excellence and leadership across the association community.
The Awards & Scholarship Committee
- Reviews and modifies criteria for award application, nomination, and selection of the Honors and Forty Under 40 Awards
- Reviews and modifies criteria for scholarship applications, nominations, and selection of the scholarship recipients
- Actively encourages other Association Forum members and non-members to apply for all Association Forum awards and scholarship programs
- Actively encourages other Association Forum members to nominate deserving candidates for the Honor Awards
- Solicits awards applications and nominations from a diverse population of professionals to ensure equal representation of applicants
- Abides by the committee’s nomination policy to not nominate colleagues or participate in discussions if committee members have a personal or professional relationship with the nominee
- Develops/manages the award process to ensure nominations and applications submitted meet the criteria of the committee’s eligibility policies
- Makes recommendations to the Board of Directors on Honors Awards honoree selections.
Recommended for Members Who Are
- Willing to actively seek out and encourage peers to submit applications and/or nominations for awards
- Familiar with association awards programs
- Actively engaged in the association industry
- Past chairs of the Association Forum Board of Directors
- Past award and/or recognition honorees
- Association Professional members or Supporting Members of Association Forum
Time Commitment
Quarterly committee meetings; participation in conference calls and sub-committee meetings as necessary
2026 - 2027 Members
Chair: Steve Smith MS, CAE
Members:
Mahjabeen Ahmed
Christel Ballog, MA, CAE, FHIMSS
Katie Bender
Beth Gall, CAE
Laura Jelinek, CAE, HMCC
Tammy Kwiatkoski, MBA, CAE, FHIMSS
Taylor Poncher,MBA
Jennifer Rock-Klotz
Andrea Schmidl
Chris Voltarel
Board Liaison: Ed Dellert, RN, MBA, CAE
Staff Liaison: Carrie Dellamano, CPRP