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Jefferson Community Collaborative 2026 Unified Voices Award Application

Jefferson Community Collaborative Unified Voices Award Purpose, Criteria & Award Selection

The Jefferson Regional Foundation recognizes that collaboration is a key strategy to strengthen our service area and amplify impact. The Unified Voices Award celebrates partnerships between nonprofit organizations that work together to deliver meaningful outcomes in the community.

This inaugural Unified Voices Award will be presented at the July 16 Conference and will continue to be awarded on a biennial basis at the Jefferson Regional Foundation Conference.
  • Award Purpose
    • Celebrate collaboration between nonprofit partners who work or provide service in the Jefferson Regional Foundation (JRF) service area.
    • Highlight initiatives that promote health and well-being.
    • Recognize partnerships that strengthen the JRF footprint and center community voice.
  • Award Criteria
    • Initiatives must:
      • Involve a minimum of two collaborating nonprofit organizations.
      • Demonstrate impact within the JRF service area.
      • Promote health and well-being.
      • Clearly center community voice in the planning, implementation, and/or evaluation of the initiative.
      • The project must have been implemented during the 2025 calendar year.
A PDF document with these criteria and application questions can be viewed here: Unified Voices Award Purpose, Criteria, & Award Selection

Note: Organizations are not required to be physically located within the Jefferson Regional Foundation footprint, provided their services are delivered within the JRF service area.

  • Award Selection
    • The Vision Council will utilize an established rubric to evaluate the submitted initiatives which can be viewed here: Unified Voices Award Rubric
    • Applications will be de-identified before review to ensure impartial scoring.
    • The highest scoring initiative will win the inaugural Unified Voices Award.
    • The three highest scoring initiatives will receive a monetary award to be shared equally among the participating organizations:
      • First Place: $5,000
      • Second Place: $2,000
      • Third Place: $1,000
    • Award recipients will be recognized through a video compilation shared during the Conference.
    • The three highest scoring initiatives will be notified on or after Thursday, April 23, and are required to participate in a video recording at the Foundation offices on Thursday, May 7 to highlight the initiative.

Please note that open-ended responses are limited to 500 characters (approx. 80 words).

For any questions, please contact Community Engagement Manager Danny Vereb at daniel.vereb@jeffersonrf.org.

Continue to the next page to begin completing your application.