Since 2017, GYA has been recognizing achievements, contributions, innovation, and leadership in the gap year field through the following GYA awards, presented at the annual Gap Year Conference:
CORNELIUS BULL LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
ADVANCING THE GAP YEAR MOVEMENT
ACCESSIBILITY FOR GAP YEAR PARTICIPATION
INNOVATION IN GAP YEAR PROGRAMMING
KARL HAIGLER EXCELLENCE IN RESEARCH AWARD
As the name indicates, the recipient of this award should be an individual who exemplifies a commitment to the movement over the long haul, who has made a significant impact on the gap year field during their career(s), and who has furthered the movement in a significant capacity, thereby honoring the legacy of Cornelius Bull.
ETHAN KNIGHT
Ethan Knight has dedicated his career to uplifting the gap year option and organizing a powerful community around the intentional, responsible growth of the gap year field. As a gap year alum-turned-professional, Ethan’s commitment to the gap year movement has been evident through his creation of Carpe Diem Education and subsequent development of Carpe Mundi, his establishment of the Gap Year Association and creation of GYA’s robust Standards of Accreditation for Gap Year Education, and his continued mentorship of countless gap year students and professionals.
2021: MARSHA RAY
2020: BRAD GILLINGS
2019: HOLLY BULL
2018: KARL HAIGLER
This award recognizes an individual who consistently goes above and beyond working to advance the gap year movement within their sphere of influence.
SANDY STORER
“During 2022, Sandy went the extra mile on multiple levels to support the growth of the Gap Year Association, identify and promote the value of GYA membership for all members and her fellow consultants, and to serve the gap year community as:
Whenever her accomplishments are recognized, her response is to ask, ‘What’s next? How can I contribute more? What more can I do?’ Sandy’s leadership will have implications for GYA and the gap year movement for years to come and, although we are nominating her for this 2022 award, we sense that she may only be getting started.”
– 2023 Award Nomination Form
2021: MARION TAYLOR & ERIN AUCAR
2020: RAE NELSON
2019: GLOBAL GAP YEAR FELLOWSHIP AT UNC-CHAPEL HILL
2018: NAROPA UNIVERSITY
2017: ROBIN PENDOLEY
This award recognizes a person or organization who is working hard to expand accessibility within the gap year movement. This could mean increasing financial parity, building diversity, or expanding inclusivity initiatives to open doors for more students within the field.
BRYNNA RAO
“As a member of the DEIA committee and GYA board, Brynna has continually shown up to open the gap
year movement to more people, and to help all feel included and welcomed in this space. She co-created
the Diverse Hiring Portal Guide to make it easier for gap programs to diversify their hiring pool. She also
co-created the vetted list of DEIA and JEDI consultants that GYA members can utilize. Her hours of
participation in GYA are helping to make all our member programs more accessible to traditionally
underrepresented students.“
– 2023 Award Nomination Form
2021: RISING EARTH IMMERSION
2020: BROADFUTURES
2019: TOPHER STEPHENS
2018: TRAVEL ACCESS PROJECT
2017: GLOBAL CITIZEN YEAR
This award recognizes those who have taken a risk to do something different, and who are thinking outside the box to help raise the bar within the gap year field.
CORNERSTONE SAFETY GROUP
“Dave Dennis and his team at Cornerstone are truly raising the bar for risk management in the gap year and travel industry. They provide wraparound support for organizations that is truly invaluable, particularly in a time when it feels like challenges are increasing. Cornerstone believes that risk management is a shared responsibility within our industry and that organizations of all sizes should have access to expert knowledge, resources, and support. Cornerstone hosts bi-weekly calls where folks in the industry gather to discuss risk management challenges. These bi-weekly calls are very well attended and have led to greater camaraderie in the summer and gap travel space. They also help to make me, a director, feel less alone with the risk management related challenges our organization is facing. Cornerstone has also hosted a number of virtual trainings (recent topics include duty of care, Covid updates, designing a med kit). These trainings give attendees an opportunity to engage with industry experts and continue to grow and learn as professionals in the field. Cornerstone provides on-call medical, mental health, and risk management support for member organizations. Their team (Dave, Madeline, Maureen, Beth, Dr. Josh) are all incredibly knowledgable and the level of support and care they provide is very much appreciated by our HQ and field staff. The support our organization receives from Cornerstone is truly invaluable and I think that their model of risk management support is raising the bar for the gap year industry.”
– 2023 Award Nomination Form
2021: CANADIAN GAP YEAR ASSOCIATION
2020: IRISH GAP YEAR
2019: GAP YEAR RADIO
2018: VERTO EDUCATION
2017: JULIA ROGERS
This award goes to a person or organization who has contributed outstanding research to the gap year field. This could mean research on student outcomes, improving programs or experiences, or the general growth of the movement.
GLOBAL CITIZEN YEAR
“As published in the Academy Impact Report, Global Citizen Year (GYC) conducted ground-breaking research on the positive impact The GYC Academy has had on its participants on a variety of competencies related to success in careers, further education, and life. GYC partnered with Harvard University to document the impacts of The Global Citizen Year Academy, a virtual offering that was formed in response to COVID. The research found that Academy graduates grew significantly in core competencies including in areas of human/mental health, self-awareness, college readiness, and career readiness (more below on research specifics). The research methodology and results should help build awareness of the positive impact of gap years (including virtual offerings) among a wide variety of stakeholders and be of interest to programs, counselors, parents, students, colleges, and others.
Conclusion: The GYC impact report states that: ‘Our pandemic pivot helped students develop the human skills and the hard skills needed for a lifetime of positive social impact. The Academy proved how a virtual learning community can further our goal of providing impactful learning experiences to students across the globe.’ GYC states that this data ‘will be invaluable as we design our next era of virtual, hybrid, and immersive programs.’
We believe that this type of research into the outcomes of gap years – across a variety of formats – is an important – even critical – way to advance the credibility of gap years, create greater awareness and education regarding their importance, and help responsibly grow the movement.“
– 2023 Award Nomination Form
2021: NINA GALLAGHER & KEMPIE BLYTHE
2020: ERIN JOHNSTON
2019: LUKE PARROTT
2018: BOB CLAGGETT & LINDA FREY
2017: CORINNE GUIDI
This award is designed to recognize organizations doing outstanding work in primarily environmental (climate), but also social, sustainability.
RYAN ALLEN: IRISH GAP YEAR
“Irish Gap Year has been trailblazing the way for climate action and sustainability since 2021, when they became the world’s first CO2-negative gap year company. Led by founder Ryan Allen, they have been working closely with the community through Green Education, Tidy Towns, and various other local businesses to educate and take action in this area, making climate issues a priority for both their students and their business.
Every IGY program is responsible for calculating the carbon footprint of their own travel and program time. They then source and plant native trees on local land to offset their footprint and as an investment in the future of the area’s environmental health. Since the autumn of 2021, IGY students have planted over 1,500 native Irish trees in rewilding and hedging projects, which will remove a total of approximately 23,570 tons of CO2 from the atmosphere over their lifespan. Students are also involved in a range of ecological workshops in the local community over the 3 months they spend with Irish Gap Year, including composting, CO2 analysis and actions for IGY, foraging, creating healthy soils, and more.
IGY also leads by example, calculating their own annual CO2 footprint, using this information to invest in CO2 sequestering and reduction projects with Gold Standard, the industry leader in climate intervention. IGY, alongside other Irish education companies, founded Green Education Ireland in 2021, which works towards the reduction of CO2 emissions within the Irish education sector.
Internationally, Ryan also continues to strive for this cause as a member of the Gap Year Association’s Sustainability Committee, supporting and leading the way for other accredited gap year programs to reduce their carbon footprints with the goal of achieving a carbon-negative GYA in the future.”
– 2023 Award Nomination Form
This award is meant to recognize the outstanding personal, professional, or civic achievements that a recent gap year alum (within the last five years) has made as a result of their gap year experience.
ABBY HASSELBRINK
“Since Abby returned from her time with us [Pacific Discovery] on the Central America Semester in 2021, she has felt refreshed and confident in starting college and this is shown through her excellence in academics and personal development. Abby has made the Dean’s List every semester since starting at Denison College and is on track to be a Phi Beta Kappa (the nation’s oldest and most prestigious academic honors society), with a 3.95 GPA. She is double-majoring in French and Psychology in order to have more opportunities to converse with people from other cultures, and she plans to work in the international education field.
Abby currently serves as the secretary for Denisonians for Planned Parenthood, her campus’s reproductive rights organization. Her travels with us helped her develop confidence in her own traveling skills, which she employed while solo traveling in the French Alps for a month last summer. During spring break this year, she traveled to Ecuador to study social policy through her college. All the while, she started an internship with Pacific Discovery as a marketing intern, supporting our social media presence and offering insight as an alumni for us at HQ as well as on webinars.
Following her internship with Pacific Discovery, she has secured a summer internship with the Cities for CEDAW History and Futures Project, a campaign to protect women by passing ordinances across the United States that are in line with the goals outlined by Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. This project was launched at the UN Commission on the Status of Women. Abby is a perfect example of what the benefits of a gap year can mean for a student’s path in life and the confidence it provides many students to move forth into adulthood.”
– 2023 Award Nomination Form
2021: DREW BEASLEY
2020: SASHA LANDAUER & JIYOUNG JEONG
2019: ALISON SEVER