Sponsored by UZURV

Award description

The Community Mobility Champion Award honors an employee or an organization that has demonstrated a commitment to advocacy and partnership that has resulted in, or that is leading to, better community mobility for blind and low-vision individuals within the area served by that agency or where that individual lives or works.

Eligibility

The recipient of the Community Mobility Champion Award must be employed by a current member of VisionServe Alliance (or in the case of an organization, must be a member of VisionServe Alliance), and show exemplary organizational and professional leadership over the course of at least five years demonstrating ongoing work within the community it serves on behalf of better and more accessible transportation for people who are blind/low-vision (B/LV) and/or the larger disability community through their work activities such as:

• Other significant actions that help to improve transportation access for B/LV and other disabled community members.
• Playing a leading and visible role in the B/LV and/or disability community’s advocacy for transportation services, policies, or enhancements that benefit people with disabilities.
• Partnering with a local transit agency or regional or metropolitan planning agency on transportation initiatives that benefit people with disabilities. These initiatives can include any/all of the following: new transportation products, services, or technologies; increases to existing services or effectively preserving existing services in the face of proposed cuts; changes to transportation policies, practices, rules, fares, or other service attributes, which lead to material improvements in the quality of life for people with disabilities.
• Providing training or community education that empowers members of the B/LV and/or disability community to become more effective advocates on behalf of better and more accessible transportation.
• Implementing, launching and/or providing a transportation program that benefits B/LV and other disabled community members. Note: while programs that benefit agency clients may be considered, there is a preference for programs that benefit a broader cross-section of the community.)
• Working within the community to improve the general level of accessibility within pedestrian spaces, and especially in ways that make transit use easier and more accessible.

Procedure

Nominations for this award must be made by the Executive Director/CEO of the nominee’s organization. In the case of a nomination of the chief executive of the organization as an individual, the nomination can be submitted by the executive director, executive team member or a board member. Nominations must be supported by the following documents:

1. A letter of nomination signed by the Executive Director/CEO that addresses the nominee’s outstanding leadership contributions and the significance of his or her contributions to better and more accessible transportation for people who are blind/low-vision (B/LV) and/or the larger disability community.
2. Optional: A maximum of two (2) support letters from any professional source that speak to the nominee’s leadership and significance of contributions.
3. Nominees should act in accordance with VisionServe’s Code of Ethics. Nominators should review the VSA Code of Ethics Policy at this link.

VSA and UZURV employees are not eligible to be nominated for this award.

Selection of the recipient of the Community Mobility Champion Award will be based on a majority vote by the VisionServe Alliance Board of Directors, including a vote by UZURV, and will be presented during the awards presentation at the Envision and VisionServe Alliance 2026 conference May 27 – 30, 2026. The award includes complimentary conference registration and up to three nights’ hotel stay at the Hyatt Regency in Columbus, Ohio for the recipient of the award. In the case of an organization being selected, the award can be applied to one of its conference registrants.

Nominations for the 2026 awards cycle are being accepted now through March 13, 2026. Here is the link to the form to submit your nomination.