FERNANDO AWARD FOUNDATION
2023 Award Guidelines & Application

A nominee for the Fernando Award should clearly be making a difference in the greater San Fernando Valley through significant volunteer leadership with civic organizations, programs and or critical social and community causes. The Nominee should have a solid and consistent history of volunteerism that is helping residents of the San Fernando Valley and or has brought about positive social change.

General Nomination Guidelines

1. A nominee may live or work outside of the greater San Fernando Valley, however, the majority of the nominee’s volunteer activities should be within the greater San Fernando Valley.
2. For purposes of the Fernando Award, the greater San Fernando Valley is geographically defined as west through Calabasas, east through Glendale, stops before Santa Clarita/Valencia in the north, and stops to the south at Mulholland Dr.
3. Former elected officials are eligible to be nominated if they have been out of public office for five or more years and not expected to run for public office in the future.
4. Current public officials, current and former staffers, current candidates for public office, current members of the Fernando board of directors and past award recipients are not eligible to be nominated.
5. Individuals who were nominees and or finalists in 2022 and wish to be nominated again in 2023, do not have to submit a full nomination package. However, you should update any information from your 2022 nomination application such as any revised nominators, updated volunteer activities, etc. You must notify the Fernando Award Foundation that you are seeking nomination again in 2023 by contacting Tim Vints at fernandoawards@gmail.com no later than July 28th. Should you have significant revisions to the nomination form from 2022, you will be asked to submit a new application to be considered in 2023.
6. Nominees who perform community service as a requirement of an employer will be considered. However, the nomination application should primarily include volunteer activities that are not required by your employer. These activities should clearly demonstrate that your volunteer activities go beyond the requirements of employer expectations.
7. Nominees and finalists may promote their nomination status through social media channels such as Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter, Instagram, etc. However, should the nominee become a finalist, a finalist may not directly request a vote on their behalf. Finalists who directly request votes, may be disqualified.
8. Nominees must have at least one (1) nominator who can be an individual or a representative of a community organization and/or business. Each nominee may have a maximum of three (3) nominators.
9. There are no requirements for the number of years of volunteer service to be nominated. However, past Fernando award recipients and finalists typically have 20 plus years of consistent and impactful volunteer service in the greater San Fernando Valley region.
10. The 2023 nomination application process is automated on Fernando’s web site. Only applications received through this web site will be considered.

General Nomination Timeline – 2023

February 1st
Nomination applications accepted at www.fernandoawards.org. Only applications submitted through the web site will be considered.

July 28th
Nominations close on July 28^th at 12:00 noon. A finalist selection committee will be formed. The primary purpose of this committee is to review the nominee applications and to identify five award finalists. The 2023 finalist committee chair is Jason Schaff.  Schaff is a member of the Fernando Board of Directors.

August
During August and early September, the five finalists will be announced.

September
Ballots to vote for the 2023 Fernando Award recipient are distributed, via email, to all eligible voters. Eligible voters are past recipients, current Fernando board members, community partners and patrons and benefactors. The voting process will be conducted online with secure passwords and authorizations. The ballots are tabulated by a local CPA firm. The name of the Fernando Award recipient is kept secret until the evening of the awards event.

November 3rd
The 65th Annual Fernando Award Foundation Gala Dinner is scheduled for Friday, November 3rd. Event sponsorships are available now from $1,750 to $5,000 for a reserved table of eight plus tribute advertising benefits. Individual tickets are $175 and do not include premium seating. For sponsorship and ticket information, please contact Florine Goodman at florine31@sbcglobal.net or Tim Vints at fernandoawards@gmail.com.

Before Submitting the Nomination Application

When entering the nomination application section, you will need to identify yourself as a NOMINEE or a NOMINATOR. Nominees are required to respond to several questions about their volunteer activities and will be asked to upload a photo and a bio-sketch. NOMINATORS will be asked to identify who they are nominating and if they are nominating as an individual or representing an organization. NOMINATORS should not nominate individuals who have not confirmed their interest in being nominated. Nominator information will be connected to the Nominee information by the finalist selection committee.

Should you need additional information submitting the nomination application, you may contact Jason Schaff at jasonschaff3@gmail.com or the Executive Director at fernandoawards@gmail.com.