Julian Clement Chase Prize for Community Impact
"Having seen things of beauty and grace, of kindness and great promise, it is not for us to mourn, but to enact. It is for us to ensure that those fine things we witnessed are carried forward into the world."
The Honey W. Nashman Center for Civic Engagement and Public Service awards the Julian Clement Chase Prize for Community Impact in the District of Columbia. This $2,000 award is the leading prize to honor GW students for excellence in community service impact. Honorable mentions will also receive a $500 award. It illuminates excellence and effective practice in student community engagement and provide exemplars to the DC, GW, and broader community of the impact that students can have when working with members of the community to enhance the quality of life in the DC community.
The Julian Clement Chase Prize for Community Impact in the District of Columbia differs from other Nashman Center student honors in that it is the only monetary prize that recognizes specific work completed. While Nashman Center student community engagement projects already are strong in achieving positive impact with DC, this example will help to tip the balance further in favor of real-world outcome and completion in student projects.
JCC Prize for Community Impact in the District of Columbia Winners
2024 - Shreya Papneja
Screen in Time and Save a Life: Increasing Cancer Screening Literacy and Resources among Community Members in Wards 7 and 8 in the District of Columbia
Program and ceremony details can be found here. Read her GW Today Story here.
2024 Winner Shreya Papneja with Bell Julian Clement
2023 - Bailey Moore
Winner of the Inaugural Chase Prize for Community Impact in 2023, shared her work with Planned Parenthood of Washington DC to design "An Expanded Curriculum for Sisters Informing Healing Living and Empowering (SIHLE)," a mentorship program promoting frank and accurate discussion of women's sexual health issues among African American teens. Her project is posted and can be found, open access, to GWScholarSpace.
Eligibility
The Julian Clement Chase Prize for Community Impact in the District of Columbia will be awarded to one GW undergraduate student (or small team) annually for their work in partnership with community residents and a community organization or public agency to make a positive difference in the life of the city. In awarding the prize, the committee will hold positive ongoing impact in the community as the central criterion. In addition, the committee will look to the document outlining the Intentions of the Founders in creating the Julian Clement Chase Prize in assessing and reviewing applications.
The prize will be awarded for activity undertaken in the immediately preceding academic year, though the project may have begun before and is likely to be ongoing. The student(s) must have been enrolled at GW in a degree-granting program during at least one semester of the year in which they undertook the project.
Community Engagement Projects may be undertaken as a part of a course, in the co-curriculum, or outside the curriculum. Projects must demonstrate community voice in clarifying the issues and root causes as well as in designing the initiative. The focus of this award is on the significance of the community impact of the initiative or program.
How to Apply
Student projects may be self-nominated or nominated by GW faculty, staff, or students or by community members.
The application for the JCC Prize for Community Impact in DC will be considered a record of the project undertaken and may include a paper, video, powerpoint presentation, or similar. Winning applicants will be asked to share this record with the public through a presentation in the fall following submission.
An academic product is not required, however evidence of impact in community is required. This may take many forms, but must be compelling. Examples of evidence may include, but aren’t limited to: the results of a formal quantitative or qualitative assessment or evaluation; testimony gathered from those affected; photos and recordings of the program or project.
Due Date
Nominations would be requested by or before May 15th, 2025 for consideration over the summer.
Award Schedule
Awardee will be asked to present their successful initiative at the Prize Event using the application material as a guide to the presentation, which may take the form of a talk, powerpoint presentation, or may use recorded media.
Projects or initiatives that take place during academic year 2025 (Sept '24- May '25) will be the first eligible programs. Applications will be due 15th May, 2025 and the award ceremony will be held in Fall 2025.
Check out the archive of all previous Julian Clement Chase winning projects here!
Questions?
Contact us at upstart
gwu [dot] edu