Greetings Chapter Leaders,
We have arrived at that time of year again to celebrate the accomplishments of your chapters by telling your story through your Chapter Excellence Awards (CEA) submission!
This is an excellent way to capture the meaningful contributions your chapter has done for your members, volunteers and community.
I am excited to share that the Chapter Excellence Awards (CEA) entry form is now open!
The deadline to submit your entry is Friday, September 18, 2026, at 12:00 PM Central Time.
I encourage you to submit an entry for your chapter for several reasons:
- To celebrate your chapter year and document your achievements
- To add your earned awards to marketing materials to help with recruiting members and volunteers
- To support succession planning and knowledge transfer in your chapter
- To capture important milestones and lessons learned throughout the year.
The CEA entry this year is unchanged from the previous year and you are not required to submit additional attachments outside of your financial statements.
Chapters that submit a completed CEA submission are eligible to win the highly acclaimed Chapter of the Year (Gold, Silver, or Bronze) and Turn-it Up Chapter awards.
Those who submit completed or partial entries can earn Excellence or Special Merit awards in Leadership, Finance, Programming, Membership, Communications and Marketing, and Community and Collegiate Outreach.
If your chapter has a standing tradition of submitting and winning a CEA entry, make sure to keep up that tradition, as you can earn a Continuing Excellence Award for 5+ years of winning a CEA.
My advice for submitting your CEA:
- Start early! Don’t wait until the last minute because the deadline extends for no one.
- Delegate and collaborate! Make it a team effort.
- Brag and celebrate! You’ve accomplished a lot this year, and this is your chance to make it known.
- Submit an entry, even if you don’t complete all parts. You are still eligible to win something for your chapter.
Visit 2026 Chapter Excellence Awards: Submittable to get your chapter set up for the entry process. Once you’ve created your account, you’ll then be directed to reminders about the entry criteria, plus get access to the upload option.
Good luck to you all, and feel free to reach out with any questions or concerns.
Best wishes,
Kendra Clarke
President-Elect
AMA Professional Chapter Council