Unity CHW Awards: Recognizing your peers in the community

Community Health Workers are doing hard work on the frontlines in our communities, serving as trusted advocates for empowerment and social justice. That’s why NACHW wants to recognize exemplary CHWs Hope & Care Awards, to be presented live at the Unity Conference during the celebratory gala on August 1, 2025 in Columbus, Ohio. As the eyes and ears of our national organization, we’re counting on you to share the stories of the CHWs you know going above and beyond. We invite our CHWs, partners and allies to nominate all deserving CHWs who embody our organizational values of self-empowerment, social justice and equality, self-determination, dignity and respect, unity, and integrity.

DEADLINE: June 27, 2025, 11:59pm HST

The Naomi Cottoms “Shining Bright Light in the Darkness” Lifetime Achievement Award honors a CHW with at least twenty years of experience whose contributions to community, service, and the CHW movement embodies the legacy of Ms. Naomi Lynette Cottoms. 

Naomi Cottoms was deeply involved in creating the National Association of Community Health Workers (NACHW) and served as a pivotal leader of our organization from NACHW’s inception in 2014 to the time of her passing in 2024.  She drew upon her vast experience to ground the  planning of NACHW in the values of justice, service, community connection, and love.  She brought light to the national CHW movement that will never be extinguished.

Ms. Cottoms was a committed and visionary CHW.  She was the founder and director of the Tri-County Rural Health Network, based in her home of Helena, Arkansas, which employs CHWs to serve residents of the Mississippi Delta region.  She also served as founder of the Arkansas Community Health Worker Association and led development of the first CHW training program in her state.  She served as a research partner with the University of Arkansas Medical Center, Dean of Student Affairs for Philander Smith College, and as a member of the National Institutes for Health (NIH) Council of Public Representatives.  She published articles, spoke at national conferences, and received a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation National Community Health Leaders Award, among many other honors. 

Ms. Cottoms was also a civic leader who led anti-poverty and housing projects and was  appointed by the mayor to lead the city’s Racial Equality Task Force. She led an annual Thanksgiving food distribution, raising funds and organizing volunteers, including some of the NACHW founders who traveled from out of state to support the event. Food distribution was a critical lifeline to many families during the holidays. In addition to the turkeys and fixings, volunteers assembled food boxes that had enough food and paper goods for multiple meals for large families, and potentially a week or more of meals for smaller families and elders. 

Ms. Cottoms served as a member of NACHW’s executive committee and chair of our nominating committee. She helped develop our organizational structure, bylaws, and operating systems, and helped identify leadership for the organization from across the country.  She built support for the organization nationally and devoted countless hours to developing and sustaining NACHW, in sickness and in health. 

By her own description, Naomi was a proud and humble Southern Black woman. She was candid.  She was discrete.  She was devout.  When asked, “How are you doing?” at the beginning of a meeting, Naomi would invariably say, “I am grateful.”  She brought a unique combination of gravity and humor to board deliberations.  She had a strong sense of decorum and a firm commitment to accountability.  She had an artist’s vision for how to inspire and include people in building the organization’s legacy.

Naomi conceived and led the ceremony that marked NACHW’s official founding at the organization’s launch in Las Vegas in April, 2019.  With 900 people present, she led a procession into a darkened hotel ballroom, holding a candle aloft, and solemnly invited everyone in attendance to light their own candles.  There we stood, bathed in light, bringing a new organization into existence.  There were few dry eyes in the house as Naomi led the assembly in reciting NACHW’s founding oath, which she had principally authored.  Naomi brought light to our organization, to the CHW movement, and to the world.  She lived in the light of God.  We love her, we miss her, and we are grateful for her life.

Click to view Naomi’s memorial program

CRITERIA

The award committee will consider the following criteria in selecting the 2025 “Light in the Darkness” award recipient:

• Nominee is a Community Health Worker with at least 20 years of experience.

• Specific information is provided about communities and populations served, health and service needs addressed, employment and/or volunteer work, national and/or international experience, etc.

• Nominee has demonstrated record of leadership in national, state, regional, and/or local CHW association(s), network(s), and/or organization(s).

• At least 2 examples are provided about the nominee’s contributions to advancing health equity, social justice, civic engagement, service delivery, and/or program development.

• Details are provided about the nominee’s organizational affiliations, community partnerships, leadership roles, publications, speaking credits, research contributions, awards, and/or other distinctions.

•  Anecdotes are provided to highlight aspects of the nominee’s values of love, affirmation, humility, humor, determination, and accountability that help define the legacy of Naomi L. Cottoms. 

• A separate letter of recommendation supporting the nomination from a CHW/CHR/Promotora/o-led network, association, or organization is required.

The NACHW Founders Circle is excited to announce a new NACHW award starting in 2025. The Founders Award will be launched and awarded at Unity!

This award will be given annually to a CHW-led organization that embodies the work of the NACHW founders to elevate, advance, unify and sustain the workforce with equity. The recipient will be an organization that reflects the values, organizing, collective leadership, and determination that went into establishing a national CHW-led CHW association. This award celebrates a notable achievement or advancement towards CHW capacity and power building, demonstrating the power of CHWs to advance our workforce and the health of our communities. 

Organizations must be NACHW organizational members (as CHW networks or ally organizations) in order to be considered. NACHW’s Organizational Members are a unique and critical part of our membership. Many of our Organizational Members employ CHWs and Allies provide direct service to community members in addition to advocating for the profession. These members often join our network to share critical resources for CHWs, join our advocacy efforts, and support CHW leadership and self-determination at the national level.

Award criteria include: 

1. NACHW organizational member in good standing at the time of application and award.
2. CHW-led network, association, alliance, coalition, community-based organization, or similar effort. 
3. Highlights a recent achievement or accomplishment that moved forward the CHW workforce locally, state- or territory-wide, or nationally (e.g., moving a policy forward, building capacity to serve communities, etc.).
4. Embodies the values of the NACHW founders: NACHW values (self-empowerment, social justice and equity, unity, self-determination, integrity, dignity & respect), inclusion, CHW-leadership