The Federation’s Award for Excellence

Last week, I spoke about the Federation’s Youth Education Bursary and the way that it serves to welcome young people into our sector and our work. Today, I want to talk about our Award for Excellence and the related purpose it serves—recognizing and thanking the people and organizations who are going above and beyond to make our communities better places to live.

The work we do in this sector is hard, often thankless, and people hear more bad news stories than good ones. That’s why we believe it is important to shine a light and celebrate the caring and dedicated people and teams who do this hard, important work day after day. These are the people who lead their teams through difficult times, the organizations committed to building strong relationships that foster good work in the community, and the teams that remain creative and thoughtful even though doing so keeps getting harder and harder.

The Award for Excellence recognizes and honours these people and organizations. It encourages our members to hold each other up and support one another in their work. To me, taking the time to honour the work of one person or one agency in this sector also honours the work of everyone in this sector. It gives us a moment to reflect on what makes for great social care leaders and allows us to truly see the people working with us and the contributions they make.

I encourage all of you to reach out and tell someone how their work has inspired you, how they helped you, or how they taught you something valuable. Our sector is full of exceptional and caring people and this is a time to honour them. Yes, the people in our sector are often more humble than others, but I believe that there is space for appreciation and thankfulness within that humility.

Categories and Nominations

As of 2018, the Award for Excellence has two categories: Individual and Organization. Nominations for both categories are accepted each year and are carried over for up to three years. In even-numbered years (e.g., 2020) the Award for Excellence will be awarded to an organization. In odd-numbered years (e.g., 2021) it will be awarded to an individual.

Take a moment to consider nominating a person, team, or organization for The Federation’s Award for Excellence. The nomination deadline is April 24th. The nomination form and more information (including past recipients) can be found on The Federation website.

Rick FitzZaland
Executive Director