An award is a public relations gift that keeps on giving. When an independent panel selects the award submission of your organization or your leader, it carries a third-party credibility that a press release or social post can’t create on its own. A win gives you a timely reason to issue an announcement, reach out to reporters, or post on social media. Depending on the award, just being named a finalist can even be shared. A win keeps paying off long after the ceremony as a line in a leader’s bio or a badge on the organization’s website; it’s a credential that strengthens the reputation of the organization or leader.
Yet award competition is fierce, so award submissions have to highlight the right information for a nominee to stand out for that particular award. At Teak, my colleagues and I manage award submissions for clients across many sectors. Winning entries often use some or all of these strategies.
Name the problem before the solution
Judges read dozens of entries that all claim to be innovative, groundbreaking or best-in-class. When the reader understands the problem, those claims are much easier to believe.
Reading Horizons won a 2026 EdTech Breakthrough Award for Adaptive Learning Innovation for Ascend, its literacy system. The entry prompt asked a question nearly every edtech company has to answer at some point: how does your product break through a crowded market? Our submission started with a problem every school leader knows. Many schools teach reading through a patchwork of separate programs: one for everyday lessons, another for students who are behind and still others for extra practice. Those programs don’t always connect, and students can get lost. Reading Horizons introduced Ascend as one connected system built to replace that patchwork. The explanation of the problem in the award submission helped the judges know why it mattered.
The takeaway is straightforward: before you describe your program or product, write about the problem it solves. Then discuss how your organization or product solves the problem in an effective and unique way.
Show judges the person behind the resume
Strong credentials get a nominee into the conversation, but most finalists have impressive titles and results. What differentiates a strong contender who judges remember is the person behind the resume, and how that person connects to the community the award celebrates. That’s especially true for regional programs, where judges are looking for leaders who are shaping their city.
This fall, Worcester Business Journal named Workers Credit Union Senior Vice President of Retail Banking Via De Leon Bennett one of its 2026 Outstanding Women in Business. Her business record speaks for itself. She rose from assistant vice president to the credit union’s senior leadership team in under three years, and she now leads more than 125 people across its branches, contact center and operations.
Her nomination paired that record with her moving story. De Leon Bennett came to the U.S. from the Dominican Republic as a toddler and arrived in Worcester in 2001.Throughout her climb, she has prioritized mentoring the next generation of leaders, especially women. Her work is also rooted in the city itself. She sponsored the transformation of Workers’ Worcester branch into the credit union’s flagship location, and she insisted it stay open to members through the entire renovation. For a Worcester publication’s judges, she was a nominee whose success is woven into their community.
The lesson is this: interview your nominee about where they came from and why they do the work, in addition to what they’ve achieved. Then look for the details that tie them to the local community, such as a neighborhood, a local project or the people they’ve mentored. Those details give judges something to remember.
Give judges one idea to hold onto
Nominations for leadership awards are especially easy to get wrong. It’s tempting to list every title, initiative, and accolade, but nominations that do that read like a resume, and while judges walk away with ‘what’ the nominee has done, the ‘why’ it matters isn’t there. Winning nominations make one argument about the person and use every example to prove it.
Curriculum Associates CEO Kelly Sia was named EdTech Company CEO of the Year in the 2026 EdTech Breakthrough Awards. Our nomination was built around one idea: Sia measures every growth decision against whether it makes learning better for students and teachers. Each example then supported that idea. Her three acquisitions, Ellevation Education, SoapBox Labs and Stile Education, supported teachers and students with expansions into English learner support, responsible voice AI, and middle school science. Her approach to AI showed up as co-design with educators.
That leadership was recognized again this year when Curriculum Associates was named to The Women’s Edge and Boston Globe Magazine’s 2026 Top 100 Women-Led Businesses in Massachusetts list.
The takeaway: Before drafting, find the throughline that tells the leader’s story. Use that to drive the narrative and the accolades and initiatives as supporting evidence.
It takes time to use these strategies to craft a memorable award submission. Begin by asking questions about your nominee long before the application is due. Do you know why they deserve to win? Can you name the problem their work solves in one sentence? Do you know your nominee’s story beyond their title?
You can use the language you create for an awards application in other communication materials. A sharp problem statement strengthens a media pitch, a personal story makes for a stronger profile and a clear leadership narrative gives reporters a reason to call. The trophy goes on a shelf. The story behind it keeps working for years.
