Inspiring Women of Iowa Nomination Tips and Frequently Asked Questions

When can I nominate someone?
Nominations for the 2025 event closed December 2, 2024. Finalists will be announced in early February. Check back again next year to nominate someone!

How do I nominate someone?
Submit a nomination through our online portal. You can prepare your nomination by reviewing the nomination questions and our nomination tips & frequently asked questions below.

What information should I include in my nomination?
We recommend including as much information as possible to give the nomination review committee the full picture of the nominee’s impact on their community. Specific examples of the nominee’s impact are recommended. The review committee is instructed to rank each nomination based solely on the information submitted, not public knowledge. The more information about them in the nomination, the better.

How long should be nomination be?
We recommend your nomination be long enough to completely answer the nomination questions, providing examples of why the nominee is deserving of the recognition. For each answer, there is a 3,000-character limit (includes spacing).

Do I need to include supplemental information?
We highly recommend including supplemental information as an attachment. Supplemental information may include letters of recommendation from multiple people, media articles, photos, etc. The strongest nominations tend to have some type of supplemental information included in their nomination. Each nomination may include up to two pages of supplemental information as one attachment. 

Can multiple people nominate the same person?
Multiple people can submit a nomination for the same person. Multiple nominations can be helpful for the nomination review committee as it provides more information and a broad picture of the nominee’s impact. An alternative option would be to submit one nomination with a letter of recommendation included as an attachment from a second nominator.

Does my nominee need to have a Girl Scout history?
No, having a Girl Scout history is not a requirement for these awards.

Does the nominee need to live in Iowa?
Yes, as these awards recognize and celebrate the amazing things individuals are doing for women in Iowa, the individual nominees must currently reside in the state of Iowa.

Does the nominee have to be over 18?
Yes, the Inspiring Women of Iowa nominees and finalists must be 18+.

Can a previous finalist be nominated again?
Yes, if they meet the following conditions: 1. They cannot be recognized in the same award category they were previously in, and 2. They must have at least a one year gap between recognition years. For example, if someone was a Courage Award finalist in 2022, the earliest they could be nominated for the Confidence Award, Character Award, or Inspiring Advocate for Women Award, would be 2024. All previous finalists can be found under past events.

Who is on the nomination review committee?
The volunteer nomination review committee is comprised of former Inspiring Women of Iowa award finalists. The committee reviews all nominations, scoring them on a specific set of criteria. Scores are averaged and finalists are selected from each category based on those scores.