Mary Gehrke-McAllister Leadership Award
The Mary Gehrke-McAllister Leadership Award honors an individual who has provided outstanding leadership by driving meaningful progress in the school counseling profession through vision, initiative, and influence. Recipients will have led significant efforts, such as launching innovative programs, shaping policy, fostering collaboration across systems, or building capacity in others, that have strengthened the profession. The award winner will be an individual whose vision, influence, and actions have advanced the school counseling profession at the state and/or national level. In addition, they will have led transformative efforts, such as shaping policy, creating innovative programs, or building strategic partnerships, that have strengthened school counseling practice far beyond their own school or district. This award seeks to recognize the breadth and reach of leadership that has impacted and elevated the profession’s visibility, effectiveness, and value across Wisconsin and beyond. This recognition focuses on the scope and effectiveness of leadership efforts, rather than the length of service, and celebrates those who have inspired change and advanced the profession’s mission.
Professional recognitions are among WSCA’s most meaningful awards, celebrating exceptional contributions to the school counseling profession. To help ensure a strong and thoughtful review process, we encourage supporters of a nominee to collaborate on a single, complete nomination rather than submit multiple applications. The strongest nominations are often those that bring together meaningful input from several sources in a single, well-prepared submission. If more than one nomination is received for the same individual, only the first application submitted will be reviewed.
Nomination Questions:
*The individual counselor nominated must be a member of WSCA to be eligible to win.*
1) Describe the specific leadership initiatives led by the nominee that have advanced the school counseling profession at the state and/or national level. What was the nominee’s intended outcome for this work, and how has it strengthened the profession beyond their immediate setting?
2) Provide examples of how the nominee influenced policy, practice, or initiatives in school counseling through collaboration and partnerships. What stakeholders did they engage, and how did their leadership and efforts inspire or equip others to create meaningful change that demonstrates the breadth and sustainability of their influence?
View our grading rubric for this award to see the criteria used when selecting the award recipient.
Nomination Instructions:
Fill out the form below to submit your nomination online.
