2025 ALA Award Recipients
Congrats to Our ALA Community!
We’re excited to announce the recipients of our 2025 awards. These honors were given out at the 2025 Annual Conference & Expo in Nashville, Tennessee.
Let’s give them all a round of applause for all their work on behalf of ALA!
Questions About Our Awards Program?
We’re happy to answer. Contact us at [email protected].
2025 Award Recipients
The first-ever Foundation Heart of ALA Award recipient is Debra (Debbie) Burgos. Debbie, you have embodied the Foundation’s mission to educate, mentor and inspire people in inclusive ways. On behalf of all of us, thank you for your incredible contributions!
Our Ambassador Excellence Award recipient is Elena Lopez Lane, PHR. Elena, thanks for your dedication to mentoring and welcoming new members!
The 2025 Large Chapter Award in the area of DEIA goes to the New York City Chapter. We thank you for your incredible work advancing DEIA in the legal industry this year in recognition of the “Explore New York with ALANYC” initiative, a curated program designed for members and business partners to connect with educational institutions and landmarks throughout the city.
The second recipient of the Large Chapter Award in DEIA is the Minnesota Chapter. With programs such as a high school diversity scholarship and a partnership with a nonprofit organization to collect books showcasing children of color, Minnesota has shown a true commitment to DEIA.
Our 2025 Small Chapter Award in Business Partner Relations award recipient is the Richmond Chapter. Richmond had three business partners volunteer as active members on their chapter committees, which created opportunities to go beyond traditional networking to foster genuine partnerships built on trust and shared goals.
The Greater Los Angeles Chapter and the Boston Chapter (not pictured) are the 2025 recipients our Large Chapter Award in the area of Business Partner Relations. The Business Partner Relations Award acknowledges efforts in recruitment, retention, engagement, programs or anything else where business partners are the main focus.
This year, the Small Chapter Award in Member Experience goes to the Raleigh-Durham Chapter. Over the past year, Raleigh-Durham experienced impressive growth thanks to the outstanding efforts of their membership team. This chapter has once again reminded us of the importance of building personal relationships.
Our 2025 Large Chapter Award in Member Experience is the New York City Chapter for creating two initiatives that addressed membership through its Sustainability Fair and its new newsletter, SustainALANYC. The New York City Chapter demonstrated a well-rounded approach to keeping their members engaged and connected.
Our 2025 NextGen Award recipients are Julie Cooney, Amanda Hall and Nancy Lewer. We thank you for your dedication to the legal management industry and look forward to what you do next!
Our 2025 Elevate ALA Award recipients are the Boston Chapter and the Jacksonville Chapter. The Elevate ALA Award recognizes members, chapters or business partners whose efforts have been exemplary in four areas: professional development, networking, visibility and DEIA.
Boston deepened its DEIA work through service initiatives, including volunteer days and fundraising for the Women’s Lunch Place. The Jacksonville Chapter embraced a local tradition with its own 904 Day, part of a city-wide celebration of the 904 area code to promote community pride and connection. We thank these chapters for their important work in the legal administrator field!
The Presidents’ Award of Excellence. This award is a performance guideline named in honor of all our Past Presidents. It is used to encourage chapters to take effective and collaborative action in support of ALA’s vision and mission.
All the chapters we recognize have accomplished much and achieved this honor through their work throughout the past year. They and their chapter leaders deserve a tremendous amount of credit and respect. Congratulations!
| Arizona | Capital | East Bay | Houston | Middle Tennessee | Oregon | San Diego |
| Arkansas | Central Florida | First State | Independence | Minnesota | Philadelphia | Silicon Valley |
| Atlanta | Chicago | Gateway | Jacksonville | New Jersey | Pittsburgh | South Florida |
| Austin | Columbus | Golden Gate | Las Vegas | New Orleans | Puget Sound | Suncoast |
| Boston | Cyber | Greater Kansas City | Maryland | New York City | Raleigh-Durham | Wisconsin |
| Calgary | Dallas | Greater Los Angeles | Metropolitan Detroit | Orange County | Richmond |
