AWARDS & GRANTS.CSJ is dedicated to honoring excellence in social justice and advocacy. Learn about opportunities to nominate your colleagues, professors, and students to honor their dedication and work.
NOMINATIONS FOR 2025 AWARDS ACCEPTED NOV. 1 TO DEC. 31, 2024! SCROLL DOWN FOR THE "SUBMIT" BUTTON UNDERNEATH THE DESCRIPTION OF EACH AWARD. |
Nominations for the 2025 CSJ Awards and Grants are being accepted from November 1 to December 31, 2024!
Nominate your colleagues for their ongoing initiatives, leadership, and dedication to social justice in the profession! Or, nominate yourself! Self-nominations are encouraged. Winners announced at the 2025 CSJ Conference in Puerto Rico. Read through the award descriptions and qualifications below, and use the links in the respective award sections to submit your nominations. We are also seeking reviewers! Email [email protected] to join the Awards Committee. We will meet in December to train on the process and plan the work, then we will be reviewing nominations throughout the month of January 2025. Questions? Contact [email protected] |
Please note: All nominators and nominees must be CSJ members. Not a member yet? More information on joining can be found on our Membership page. Not sure if the nominee is a member? Please confirm in advance of nominating if possible, or if not, feel free to nominate, and active membership will be verified if nominee is chosen.
aWARDS |
COUNSELORS FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE 'OHANA AWARDThe CSJ ‘Ohana Honors awards were created by Drs. Michael D’Andrea and Judy Daniels, Counselor Education faculty at the University of Hawai’i-Manoa, in 1994. They are given annually by CSJ at the American Counseling Association conference in the Spring each year to honor individuals in counseling who affirm diversity and advocate for social justice in the spirit of nine elements of the indigenous Hawai’ian concept of ‘Ohana or extended family: Malama: Caring, Aloha: Unconditional Love, Ha’aha’a: Humility, Mana: Spiritual Power, Na’auuo: Intelligence, ‘Olu’olu: Courtesy, Lokomaika’i: Generosity. Koa: Courage. Kupono: Integrity, Honesty
Please note: multiple (up to four) nominees may receive the 'Ohana Award each year. Past Recipients
THE MARY SMITH ARNOLD ANTI-OPPRESSION AWARDThe Dr. Mary Smith Arnold Anti-Oppression Award honors professional counselors and counselor educators who have an exemplary record of challenging multiple oppressions in the counseling professions as well as in their local schools and communities.
This award is named in honor of Dr. Mary Smith Arnold (1946-2003), who was a cherished member of the counseling and human development professions and a founding mother of Counselors for Social Justice. She was active in civil rights struggles throughout her all too short life and a Counselor Educator on the faculties of Governors State and Kent State Universities specializing in Community and Couple, Marital, and Family Counseling. She was the co-creator of the Unlearning Oppression workshops, taught to thousands of students and colleagues around the world. An ally to all oppressed peoples, Dr. Arnold’s spirit of expecting equity and justice for all peoples was evident in her leadership roles in ACA as a CSJ Governing Council representative and in her work as co-chair of ACA’s Public Policy and Legislation committee. Past recipienTs
Dr. Marcus Smith Dr. Natasha Barnes Dr. Shekila Melchior Stacey Litam Shon D. Smith Rebekah Byrd Aretha Marbley Poka Laenui (Hayden F. Burgess) Dr. Eric Green Hugh Crethar Judy Daniels THE REESE HOUSE SOCIAL JUSTICE ADVOCATE OF THE YEAR AWARDGiven in honor of a CSJ founding member, counselor educator, and former program director of The Education Trust’s National Center for Transforming School Counseling and Oregon State University Counselor Education professor emeritus who fought tirelessly for equity for all children and youth K-16 in the transforming school counseling movement and in other social justice venues including LBGT equity and HIV/AIDS advocacy. Dr. House, who co-authored the ACA/CSJ Advocacy Competencies, died from throat and neck cancer in 2007. The awardee is given the opportunity to direct funding from the Reese House Memorial social justice advocacy fund toward a school counseling social justice nonprofit advocacy organization of their choosing. Dr. House’s vision and memory lives on in the social justice advocacy school counseling /counselor education contributions of the recipients of this award.
The Award Recipient will have:
Past Recipients
CSJ OUTSTANDING COUNSELING PROGRAM/AGENCY AWARDThis award acknowledges a counseling or psychology program/ agency that reflects the mission of CSJ in their training of future counselors, work in the community, advocacy, etc. Programs or Agencies nominated for this award should demonstrate outstanding pre-service and/or in-service training in areas such as social justice counseling, multicultural counseling, advocacy, and counseling socially and culturally diverse populations.
Past Recipients
Seminary of the Southwest - Dr. Maria Spellings, Director Masters of Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program, Molloy College Graduate Studies in Counseling, Rollins College DR. JUDY LEWIS COUNSELORS FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE AWARDPlease note: This award is given through ACA. For more information, please visit this link.
This award is in honor of Dr. Judy Lewis who was a founder of CSJ, a past president of ACA, and a visionary social justice leader. Judy was feisty, determined, and an advocate for social justice within marginalized communities, working with women and youth, promoting advocacy within the counseling profession, and working on national political campaigns. She was a prolific writer and always wove advocacy; social justice; empowerment; anti-oppression; power dynamics; critical analysis; and community based counseling, into all of her published works. She was a doer and creator, and she was always willing to take the lead and challenge the status quo. Criteria include a person (or persons) who has engaged in social justice and advocacy with a minimum of at least 2 of the following component parts:
PASt recipients
2021 - Dr. Ebony White Dr. Shon Smith Laura Boyd Farmer Randy J. Davis Brandé Flamez Loretta Bradley, PhD Dr. Judy Daniels Climate Justice AwardClimate justice concerns those efforts focused on the combination of environmental justice (defined as efforts to improve the lives of others in relation to climate crises) and social justice (defined as efforts to bring equity to marginalized populations in terms of opportunities and outcomes). Criteria include a person (or persons) who has (have) engaged in climate justice and advocacy, specifically meeting Criteria 1 below:
1. Engages in climate justice advocacy efforts connected to marginalized individuals and/or communities, including women across the life span, youth, and indigenous communities. In addition, each nominee must demonstrate one of the components below: 2. Engaged in empowerment of marginalized individuals and/or communities in relation to climate crises. 3. Engaged in community organizing and systems change that promote climate justice action. 4. Demonstrated evidence of ongoing inclusive change in the community/communities within which the individual(s) work. The persons who are nominated do not need to be a member of ACA but do need to be a member of CSJ. Nominees can be a professional counselor (practitioner or otherwise), educator, or student in the counseling profession or a climate justice advocate within a community. Past recipients
Dr. Kenya Johns Debbie Sturm |
Grants |
SOCIAL JUSTICE COUNSELING GRANTThe Social Justice Counseling Grant was established by Counselors for Social Justice (CSJ) to support social action-focused projects initiated by counselors that further the mission of CSJ: The mission of Counselors for Social Justice is to work to promote social justice in our society through confronting oppressive systems of power and privilege that affect professional counselors and our clients and to assist in the positive change in our society through the professional development of counselors.
Funding
CSJ will fund a maximum of 4 grants and up to $1,000 total. Who May Apply
This grant competition is open to all members of CSJ. Individuals with limited access to funding are especially encouraged to apply, including students, practicing counselors, and those working in marginalized communities. Individuals may submit (or be part of a submission team) for only one proposal. Proposal Format
Proposals must adhere to the following requirements in order to be considered:
Evaluation Criteria
A panel of reviewers will evaluate the proposals using the following criteria:
Submission Instructions
Your submission will include:
Past Recipients
|
PAST WINNERS
2024 COUNSELORS FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE AWARD WINNERS
2023 COunselors for Social Justice Award winners
Congratulations to our winners for their tireless efforts towards social justice in counseling!
connect with csj
Join CSJ on social media @CSJNational and join our community on ACA Connect!
Still got questions? Email [email protected]