Call for Nominations for the Ed Erwin Advocacy Award
As part of our 30th anniversary celebration, we are seeking nominations for the 2025 Ed Erwin Advocacy Award. This Award will be presented to a person with lived experience with disability who has made significant contributions to community integration and self-determination for people with disabilities. The deadline for nominations is September 23, 2025. The Award will be presented at our 30th Anniversary Gala at Olbrich Gardens in Madison on October 17, 2025.
Ed Erwin was a long-term member of the Movin’ Out Board of Directors who passed away in 2019. He was an advocate, writer, and educator about disabilities and in particular, mental illness. Ed was a lecturer at the UW School of Social Work, active in several local and statewide organizations, and a powerful advocate for voting and continuing education for people with disabilities.
As part of our 25th anniversary celebrations in 2020, the Movin’ Out Board of Directors created an award in Ed’s name that was presented to Luann Simpson, a disability advocate based in Racine. This year, for our 30th anniversary, we will again honor a disability advocate for their accomplishments in empowering people with disabilities.
We invite nominations of people with disabilities of any kind (including people with physical, intellectual, or developmental disabilities, mental illness, people who are deaf or hard of hearing, or blind or visually impaired) who have a strong commitment and a track record of advocating for themselves and other people with disabilities. People with disabilities can nominate themselves. Self-nominations require providing the name of one reference with contact information. Nominations may be submitted via our online form or by mailing a letter with all of the information shown in the online form.
The Movin’ Out Ed Erwin Advocacy Award Ad Hoc Committee will select the award recipient. The Committee includes Movin’ Out Board members and others with deep experience with disability issues. They will review nominations based on the following criteria. (Nominees are not required to meet all five of the criteria.)
The Ed Erwin Advocacy Award will be presented to a person with lived experience with disability who has:
Shown commitment and leadership at the local or state level in Wisconsin to advocate on behalf of individuals living with disabilities, with significant outcomes of those efforts, and/or
Advocated for approaches that move away from institutionalization and that ensure full community membership and integration for people living with disabilities, including living in their own homes, working in regular integrated employment and social integration and/or
Educated community members and organizations about individuals living with disabilities focusing on their abilities and their valuable contributions to their communities, and/or
Provided peer support to individuals living with disabilities to educate and empower them to advocate for themselves and others, and/or
Been a powerful role model and mentor to others living with disabilities and has embodied hope and inspiration by demonstrating that they believe in the capacity of individuals with disabilities to overcome obstacles on their path.
Nominations must be received by September 23, 2025 at 5:00 p.m. The winner will be notified by October 2, 2025, and the presentation will take place on October 17 at the Movin’ Out 30th Anniversary Gala Celebration.