Governor's Volunteer STars Awards

The Governor's Volunteer Stars Awards (GVSA) is an initiative from Volunteer Tennessee that seeks to recognize outstanding volunteers from each of Tennessee's 95 counties. With the program now in its fourteenth year, participating counties conduct a call for nominations and recognize one outstanding youth and one outstanding adult volunteer. The Governor’s Volunteer Stars Awards also recognizes one business and one non-profit from each of Tennessee’s three Grand Regions for their outstanding community involvement and service.

The GVSA provides an opportunity for individuals and organizations to support service in the state and Tennessee's volunteers through any of the the following:

Find your County Coordinator in our GVSA Directory and nominate a volunteer!
Become a County Coordinator and facilitate the local nomination process . Click here for the list of counties that need coordinators.
Nominate a Business or Nonprofit that has impacted your community through their volunteer efforts. The application will is NOW OPEN.
Become a GVSA sponsor or reserve an ad in the GVSA Award Booklet. Email volunteer.tennessee@tn.gov for more info and to receive a sponsorship packet.

We Sponsor Two Counties

TCAC holds the innate privilage of sponsoring two counties.

Click the below to view previous Cocke County and Hamblen County GVSA Honorees.

Previous Honorees

Who is eligible?

Any individual whose volunteer activities in Tennessee benefit the community or the State of Tennessee in a substantial, important, or unique way.
Students receiving course credits are eligible, only if the volunteer service extends beyond course requirements. This must be clearly indicated in the nomination letter.
National Service program participants (AmeriCorps, AmeriCorps Seniors, AmeriCorps NCCC, etc.) are encouraged to apply based on their volunteer involvement in their national service assignment.

Judging Criteria

Need: Service addressed to a specific need in the community (i.e. poverty)
Action: The nominee was actively involved and took initiative.
Innovation: The nominee used creative methods to solve community problems.
Impact: The activity or service produced positive changes and provided an example to others.

Who is not eligible?

Individuals involved in "court mandated community service" or those serving as "loaned executives."
Persons who receive compensation for services rendered (except National Service Participants noted above)

Additional Guidelines

Volunteers may be nominated by anyone or may nominate themselves.
The nomination letter should specifically be formatted for the Governor's Volunteer Star Awards according to the judging criteria listed below. If it is written as a nomination for another award, it will not be given to the judges for consideration of this award.
In the event that an individual is nominated multiple times, the review panel will consider only the first nomination form submitted.