The Service Year Alums Awards celebrate the more than 1.3 million Americans who have served in AmeriCorps, the 240,000 Americans have served in the Peace Corps, and the many service year alums from YouthBuild and non-federally funded service years.
The 2025 Service Year Alums Awards application is now closed.
- Did your service year change your perspective or set you on a new career path?
- Are you a veteran who completed a service year during your transition to a civilian career?
- Did your service year enable you to succeed at work, in school, or in community in ways that you previously would not have been able to?
If some or all of the above apply to your service year experience, then we want to hear about it.
- As an alum, this is an opportunity to showcase your contributions through service, highlight the positive impacts you've made, and inspire future generations of service year members.
- As a colleague, supervisor, or mentor to an alum, this is a great way to uplift the nominee for their accomplishments and support their professional growth.
Awardees will receive $1,000 each, and recognition at a virtual awards ceremony, on social media, the Service Year Alliance website, and other public outlets.
2025 Application Summary
Apply or Nominate an Alum
To be considered for an award, a service year alum must submit an application.
If you would like to nominate an alum for the award, then please select the Nomination option in the application form.
Award Eligibility
The awards are open to anyone who has completed a service year*. There are no age restrictions or geographical limitations.
Award Application Due Date
Submit your Service Year Alums Award application by April 23, 2025. The awards will be presented in June 2025.
Application Preview
Your responses should demonstrate how your service year was pivotal to determining your post-service professional journey. Reflect on your service year experience, the hard and soft skills you learned, training you completed, and credentials you may have earned. Consider how your service year opened the door to a new career path or clarified where and what you wanted to do next.
Curious about what the application will ask? Preview the application questions here.
All submissions should demonstrate the connection between a service year and your post-service professional journey.
Examples include, but are not limited to:
- Attaining a job or other professional opportunity as a direct result of your service year.
- Leveraging a particular credential or training in a professional setting.
- Drawing upon a learning from your service year to solve a problem or overcome a challenge.
- Pursuing a new career field as a result of your service year experience.
- Building your professional network through the individuals and communities you were introduced to during your service year.
- Finding a mentor or advisor through a connection you made during your service year.
Entries will be reviewed by Service Year Alliance staff, service year alums, and/or other service year champions utilizing specific criteria**.
Please ensure you share your narrative with an ethical lens - in a fair, respectful, and accurate manner. Alums should consider authenticity, respect for others, accuracy, and cultural humility.
- Entries should be submitted using the Service Year Alums Awards application form. If you are unable to access the application form, please contact [email protected] to coordinate an alternative submission.
- Applications must be submitted no later than April 23, 2025.
- By submitting an entry, you acknowledge that your story, or portions thereof, may be published on the Service Year Alliance website, included in promotional materials, media outlets, and/or reports to demonstrate the impact of service years.
Embrace the opportunity to reflect on your service journey and celebrate your commitment to service. Thank you for your interest in the Service Year Alums Awards.
Meet the 2024 Honorees
In 2024, the awards highlight service year alums successful in bridging divides across lines of difference and fostering positive change in their communities.
Each awardee was asked to reflect on their service year and identify the learning and experiences that enabled them to come together across divides, including age, race and ethnicity, identity, and more. In doing so, each awardee demonstrated how their service year helped them find common ground, build relationships, and collaborate.
**Service Year Criteria
*In general, a service year is defined as a paid opportunity to develop real-world workplace skills and civic engagement through hands-on service. Service years address unmet community needs through direct service or indirect “capacity building” for at least 32 hours per week over the course of 9-24 months total. All AmeriCorps, Peace Corps, and YouthBuild positions are considered service years.
If you have questions about whether your program qualifies, view Service Year Alliance’s Certification Criteria for service year programs, or email [email protected].
*Application Criteria
- Theme: Do your responses focus on how your service year advanced your professional development?
- Impact: How well do you demonstrate how the service year made a difference in your professional journey?
- Message: Is the narrative shared with an ethical lens, including with honesty, accuracy and empathy for how your story could impact others?
Have questions about the Service Year Alums Awards? Whether you're curious about eligibility, the submission process, or what kinds of narratives we're looking for, we’ve got you covered! Head over to our FAQs page to find all the answers you need to ensure your application shines here.
