All ADC member organizations can nominate a champion. Nominations are limited to one per member organization. Participating organizations must submit a partner agreement form.

Communities should nominate individuals who have made a significant impact in their defense community. Defense Community Champions go above and beyond to make meaningful connections with military members, families and veterans in their community. Nominees can be community or military members.

Please note: Individuals with a national presence (e.g., members of congress) should not be nominated. This program is intended to recognize those working on a local scale.

Local Champions: Local champions are recognized through recognition ceremonies planned by your defense community, assisted by a local Navy Federal branch. ADC will promote local champions on social media, provide a toolkit for communities to help promote your champion and provide an award. Local champions will also be featured in materials at the Defense Communities National Summit. Additional guidance on how to promote your local champion is provided during and immediately following the nomination period.

National Honorees: National honorees will be recognized during a ceremony at the Defense Communities National Summit. (Because national honorees are selected from local champions, they will first be recognized as a local champion in their community).

Yes, ADC asks each defense community to host a local ceremony to recognize their champion. Where available, ADC members will be connected with local Navy Federal Credit Union branches to participate in these ceremonies.

In the past, communities have hosted local ceremonies in a wide range of formats. Some have added the ceremony to a preexisting meeting, while others have planned a standalone event.

ADC requires each community to fill out a local ceremony form that includes details of your community’s ceremony (date, time, location, etc.). A complete local ceremony form must be filled out prior to ADC shipping your local award.

ADC conducts an in-depth external and internal review process of all nominations. Applicants are evaluated based on the narrative nominations for three categories: Connection, Impact, and Awareness.