ACCIS Awards

The Marty Elkins Award for Excellence in College Counseling
ACCIS Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging Awards


The Marty Elkins Award for Excellence in College Counseling

In 2010, the ACCIS Board of Trustees established the Marty Elkins Award for Excellence in College Counseling, named after our first volunteer executive director, to recognize those whose work enriches our profession and who best embody the principles of the ACCIS Mission Statement. Each year, the Board seeks nominations from the membership and selects a recipient for this Award, to be presented at the Association's General Membership meeting.

Mission Statement:
The Association of College Counselors in Independent Schools is an educational leader and professional community that empowers its members as they educate and support students, families, and institutions through a lens of equity, inclusion, and belonging in an ever-changing college admission landscape.

Vision statements:

  • ACCIS will deliver timely, relevant, and innovative programming to inspire and inform members in their college counseling work;
  • ACCIS will model learning and growth while leading change in independent schools to center diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging in college admission counseling;
  • ACCIS will work collaboratively to address the social, ethical, and pedagogical forces at play in the world we live in and their intersection with higher education.

Recipients of the Marty Elkins Award:

2023 Maria Morales-Kent, Thacher School, CA
2022 Eric Monheim, St. Mark's School, MA
2021 Brennan Barnard, Derryfield School, NH
2020 Rhody Davis, Viewpoint School, CA
2019 Marie Bigham, ACCEPT
2018 Gabrielle McColgan, Castilleja School, CA
2017 Nancy Beane, The Westminster Schools, GA
2016 Sam Moss, Darlington School, GA
2015 Steve Soud, The Bolles School, FL
2014 Jenny Byers, The Harpeth Hall School, TN; 
          Betsy Dolan, Phillips Exeter Academy, NH
2013 Marcia Hunt, Pine Crest School, FL
2012 Ed Graf, Isidore Newman School, LA
2011 Burke Rogers, St. George's School, RI
2010 Marty Elkins, The New Hampton School, NH


ACCIS Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging Awards

In 2021, the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging Committee (then the DE&I Committee) and the ACCIS Board established two Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging Awards to recognize members of our ACCIS community who have committed to the work of DEIB and program innovation. Each year, the DEIB Committee seeks nominations from the membership and selects recipients for these Awards, to be presented at the Association's General Membership meeting.

The DEIB Rising Star Award is intended for a member with fewer than five years of college counseling experience; growing visibility within the school/community/ACCIS/NACAC/regional ACAC in DEIB work; and demonstrated ability to challenge the normative culture within their respective community to create greater equity.

The DEIB Champion Award is intended for a member with more than five years of college counseling experience; has engaged in DEIB initiatives in their school community and beyond the institutional level; is visible in DEIB work in ACCIS/regional ACAC/NACAC/school/community; has demonstrated a deep understanding of, and commitment to, DEIB work as an educator.


Recipients of the DEIB Rising Star Award:

2023 Xavier McKinzie, Emma Willard School, NY
2022 Annalise Miyashiro, Sage Hill School, CA

Recipients of the DEIB Champion Award:

2023 Alyson Tom, Castilleja School, CA
2022 Jodi Hester, Woodward Academy, GA
2021 Frank Cabrera, Brooklyn Friends School, NY
         Elizabeth Pili, Spence School, NY