Youth Leadership Awards

The SMYAL LGBT Youth Leadership Awards recognize student leaders who have demonstrated extraordinary leadership and impact in their school or communities. These post-secondary scholarships provide a total of up to $25,000 to 5-8 students a year in honor of their leadership as they continue their education. Individual scholarships of up to $5,000 each are paid directly to winners to help offset the cost of tuition, books, materials, housing, travel, and other expenses associated with school.

Since 2015, the YLAs have awarded $107,000 to 41 student leaders, learn more about our past winners below!

Previous Winners

2023 Winners

Diya Bardwell

Diya Bardwell (they/she) is a natural-born leader, taking on several...

August 8, 2023

Jalen Tran

Jalen Tran (he/him) is a filmmaker in the making, his...

August 8, 2023

Julie Davis

Julie Davis (she/her) is a recent graduate of the George...

August 8, 2023

Kadin Elwain

Kadin Elwain (he/him) focuses his leadership and activism on the...

August 8, 2023

Kailah Floyd

Kailah Floyd’s (she/her) leadership began in her family. When coming...

August 8, 2023

Kasey Brown

Kasey Brown (she/her) is determined to preserve the LGBTQ+ community’s...

August 8, 2023

Lucy Chamberlain

Lucy Chamberlain (she/her) steps up to the plate to lead...

August 8, 2023

Malachi Braithwaite

Malachi Braithwaite (she/her) is a talented musician who has made...

August 8, 2023

Perry Sovich

Perry Sovich (they/he/she) showcases how leadership is about advocating and...

August 8, 2023

2022 Winners

Sara Berger

Sara Berger (she/they) is a recent graduate of Kent Island...

July 14, 2022

Iris Ghorbani

Iris Ghorbani (she/her) is an EMT, GSA founder, and advocate...

July 14, 2022

Henry Baratz

Henry Baratz (he/they) uses the arts as a medium for...

July 14, 2022

Emmy Knuppel

Emmy Knuppel (she/they/he), the first recipient of Sophie’s Live Out...

July 14, 2022

Ario F.

Ario F. (they/she) is passionate about using their identity to...

July 14, 2022

Amiyah Taylor

Amiyah Taylor (they/them) is a 23-year-old student seeking higher education...

July 14, 2022

2021 Winners

Oliver Petersen

Oliver Petersen (he/him), a 2021 graduate of the School Without...

July 29, 2021

Michelle Hadid Osorto Nieto

Michelle Hadid Osorto Nieto (she/her), a 2021 graduate of The...

July 29, 2021

Maddie Graham

Maddie Graham (any pronouns), a 2021 graduate of Montgomery Blair...

July 29, 2021

Ashton Gerber

Ashton Gerber (they/he), a 2021 graduate of the DC International...

July 29, 2021

Jordan Clark

Jordan Clark (he/him), a 2021 graduate of Wakefield High School,...

July 29, 2021

Will Beckerman

Will Beckerman (he/him), a 2021 graduate of the School Without...

July 29, 2021

2020 Winners

Leif Siegrist

Leif Siegrist is a young leader who has always stood...

January 5, 2021

Jaden Randolph

Jaden Randolph is an artistic young leader who seeks to...

January 5, 2021

Quincy DuBois

Quincy DuBois has been a fierce advocate for the LGBTQ...

January 5, 2021

Tsion Cummings

Tsion Cummings is a dedicated young leader pursuing a degree...

December 3, 2020

Trinity Rich

Trinity Rich is a natural leader. Even as the Co-President...

December 3, 2020

2019 Winners

Nathan Handberg

Nathan Handberg is a recent graduate of Freedom High School...

June 19, 2019

Jonathan Yannes

Jonathan Yannes is a recent graduate of James Hubert Blake...

June 19, 2019

Malik Ivey

Malik Ivey is a recent graduate of the SEED School...

June 19, 2019

Jackson Newman

Jackson Newman is a recent graduate of George C. Marshall...

June 18, 2019

Hannah Jones

Hannah Jones is as recent graduate of Wakefield High School...

June 18, 2019

Max Hancock

Max Hancock is a recent graduate of Broadneck High School...

June 18, 2019

2018 Winners

Zion Miller

Zion Miller is a senior at Stonewall Jackson High School,...

December 10, 2018

Leo Bassow

Leo Bassow is a proud leading member of the School...

December 10, 2018

James van Kuilenburg

James van Kuilenburg is a trans youth advocate in his...

December 10, 2018

Vivian Soler

Vivian Soler is a high school senior at the H-B...

December 10, 2018

Grace Dolan-Sandrino

Grace Dolan-Sandrino is an activist and advocate for marginalized youth....

December 10, 2018

Elizabeth Moore

Elizabeth Moore graduated from Lake Braddock Secondary School in Virginia....

December 10, 2018

Reeves Gift

Reeves Gift is a Trinidadian-American filmmaker who strives to heal...

December 7, 2018

Addison Moore

Addison Moore is a graduate of Paul Public School in...

August 30, 2018

2017 Winners

Miles Max Davis-Matthews

From advocating to have a GSA in his high school,...

July 17, 2018

Queen Griffin

Queen has started her own organization, Keeping the Arts Alive...

July 17, 2018

Joshua Horvath

Joshua is being recognized for his involvement in Wilson’s Gay-Straight...

July 17, 2018

Brandon Odemns

Brandon is being recognized for being an active member of...

July 13, 2018

Rowan Woldridge

Rowan is being recognized for his ability to educate others...

July 13, 2018

2016 Winners

Olatunji Coleman

We are honoring Olatunji for his strength and perseverance in...

July 17, 2018

Nancy Brooks

We are honoring Nancy for her integrity and drive, for...

July 17, 2018

Bennett Shoop

We are honoring Bennett for their commitment to social justice,...

July 17, 2018

Azariah Kurlantzick

We are honoring Azariah for their tenacity as an out...

July 17, 2018

Rami Zein

We are honoring Rami for his perseverance as an out...

July 17, 2018

Monet Umana

We are honoring Monet for her commitment to her radical...

July 13, 2018

2015 Winners

Erika Johnson

Erika Johnson is a recent Oxon Hill High School graduate...

July 17, 2018

Kaaliyah McDowell

Kaali- yah was co-president of her GSA, in which she...

July 17, 2018

Carlos McKnight

Carlos is excited to advocate for issues such as workplace...

July 13, 2018

Maya Parker

At Wanda Alston, Maya shined as a leader, using her...

July 13, 2018

Emily Pearson-Beck

Emily Pearson-Beck graduated from Washington-Lee where she was Co-President for...

July 13, 2018

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