Awards and Recognition

PSO Staff DEIB Excellence Award

The Professional Staff Organization DEI Committee and the PSO Board are looking forward to highlighting the work of our outstanding staff with the 2024 PSO Staff Award for Outstanding Impact in DEIB. The 2024 DEI Award seeks to highlight Professional Staff currently working at the University of Washington at our Seattle, Tacoma, or Bothell campuses including UW Medicine.

Nominees include those who have demonstrated a deep commitment to the advancement of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging work directly within the UW community or their local communities. Awardees center the voices of marginalized communities, place advancing racial, social, and economic justice at the core of their work, and seek to transform longstanding systems to improve the outcomes of individuals historically disenfranchised.

Evaluation Criteria:

Community Engagement – Nominees are deeply involved in their communities/community and engage directly with those systematically excluded to better understand how to best serve their communities/community. Their tangible efforts have guided their DEIB work and informed their decisions to advance this work.

Impact – The impact of the nominees’ work has produced tangible results and shows a dedication to reform our systems to ensure the continued success of those marginalized.

Represents UW Values – Nominees personify the UW vision and values and strive to work towards the goals listed in the Diversity Blueprint. They meaningfully contribute to cultivating an equitable climate within the workplace and their communities and apply place-based education in their work.

Visionary for DEIB work – Nominees seek to innovate and pave a path forward that elevates marginalized communities. This individual has allowed their vision for a more diverse world to lead their efforts.

Demonstrates Longevity of DEIB work- Nominees demonstrate continuity of their individual project/program/or organization. They display leadership abilities to sustain their DEIB efforts into the future.

Award amounts will vary depending on nominations received. Funding for awards is made possible by contributions to the PSO.

Eligibility Requirements:

Professional staff at the grade of 10 and below, who have been with UW in a professional staff role for at least 6 months.

- Individuals may nominate themselves. Nominations also may be made by members of the UW community. (Submissions will require sign in with UW NetID)
Entries were due by April 5, 2024.

Submission Instructions:

Nominations may be submitted by 90-second video or short answer response via nomination form.
- Please sign in with your UW NetID to complete nomination form.
- Option to submit a video file type (single file 1GB video or audio) please do not also complete the questions, they will not be used for consideration.
As part of the award process, please be aware that we will reach out to nominees anonymously to inform them of their nomination. As a crucial component of the selection process, nominees will be asked to provide insights into what Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) means to them, along with the underlying motivations driving their impactful work.
For any accessibility needs, please reach out to the PSO at psoboard@uw.edu.