2026 ASAE Gold Circle Award for Professional Degree Advocacy

SILVER SPRING, MD – Today, the American Nurses Association (ANA) announced it has been recognized by ASAE with a 2026 Gold Circle Award in the Advocacy category. ANA earned this award because of its advocacy around the Department of Education’s student loan eligibility criteria for professional degrees for nursing students, generating more than 250,000 signatures on ANA’s petition, over 14,000 comments submitted, 140 Congressional signatories, and over 6 billion media impressions in under 5 months. 

The Gold Circle Awards honor the creativity, execution, and success of outstanding marketing, membership, and communications campaigns in the association community. This year’s competition received more than 150 applications across 16 categories.

“This recognition from ASAE speaks to what is possible when a clear strategy and a committed team come together in service of something bigger,” said Angela Beddoe, Chief Executive Officer of the American Nurses Enterprise. “From the outset, this was a deliberate, enterprise-wide effort to elevate the voice of nurses and advocate for the recognition our profession deserves. Our advocacy and communications teams worked in lockstep to build a campaign that was both disciplined in its execution and powerful in its reach. More than 250,000 advocates acted because this issue matters to the future of nursing and to the health of our nation. I am deeply proud of our teams for translating strategy into impact.”

“This recognition reflects the real and measurable impact of ANA’s advocacy on behalf of the nursing profession,” added Jennifer Mensik Kennedy, PhD, MBA, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN, President of the American Nurses Association. “We must continue to show up and leverage The Power of Nurses™ for the 5 million registered nurses in the United States every single day. Advocacy is critical to our core mission and amplifying the voices of nurses across decisions at the federal, state, and organizational level is just one of the many ways we put ANA’s mission into action.”

“The Gold Circle Awards shine a light on the amazing work that associations do for the professions and communities they serve,” said Joe Rominiecki, CAE, chair of the ASAE Gold Circle Awards Committee. “Each winning project highlights the creativity and ingenuity that is abundant in marketing, membership, and communications in the association community. We are thrilled to have received so many great submissions, and we are eager to celebrate the winners."

The 2026 Gold Circle Award winners were recognized during ASAE’s Marketing, Membership, Communications + Tech Conference, taking place May 28-29, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC.

For more information on the winners, visit the Gold Circle Awards website.