2026 Nominations Are Now Open

The Young Citizens of the Year award, hosted by the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation (AAACF), recognizes leadership and community service (outside of school-based activities) on the part of Washtenaw County high school students. 

To be eligible for the nomination, the student must (1) currently be enrolled in a public, private or home school high school located in Washtenaw County (2) be a freshman, sophomore, junior, or senior during the 25/26 school year and (3) have engaged in community service activities which impact Washtenaw County that are not school-based.

The nomination period begins on March 3rd and closes on March 24th. Shortly after the nomination period has ended, nominated students will be contacted by AAACF and asked to provide (1) additional information and details about their service and (2) two references for the Foundation to contact. 

The five students who are selected as Young Citizens of the Year will be contacted in early May and asked to interview with MLive and participate in a photo shoot shoot.

On May 10th, the five students will be announced publicly as the Young Citizens of the Year on the MLive website and in the Sunday newspaper. Thanks to generous support from the Robert Bruce Dunlap Memorial Fund, each of the Young Citizens will receive a $4,500 scholarship to the higher education institution of their choice.

Please note that if you do not see a screen which says, "Thank you for nominating a student for the Young Citizens of the Year Award. Your response has been successfully submitted" after completing the form than your response will not be received by AAACF. If this happens, please contact Maryellen Ferro at mferro@aaacf.org right away to double check if the submission was received. Please do not wait until after the deadline. In addition, please be aware that any information submitted may be used by MLive or AAACF publicly in print.

Any questions or concerns should be directed to AAACF's Community Investment Officer, Maryellen Ferro at mferro@aaacf.org.