Recognition
Summit Awards 2026
Kansas City, MO · July 28–30, 2026
Community Engagement · By Region
Community Engagement Award
Turning moments into movement.
Thriving communities turn moments into movement. This award honors the community where consistent attendance reflects a strong culture of trust, relevance, and belonging.
Measured by: Highest average QR attendance per event during the last year.
One winner per region
Entrepreneur Journey · By Region
Entrepreneur Journey Excellence Award
A seamless, high-quality experience from application to stage.
The communities that honor every presenter’s journey with care and intentionality create something more than an event. They create a launchpad.
Measured by: Most complete presentations in the 1MC website during the last year.
One winner per region
Growth & Momentum · By Region
Rising Star Award
New communities building something powerful — fast.
Being new is a strength. The energy, momentum, and fresh perspective of emerging communities are exactly what this award celebrates.
Eligibility: Communities active for two years or fewer, actively hosting events.
Measured by: 100-point composite score — avg attendance/event (28 pts), presentations/month (22 pts), organizer team size (18 pts), pipeline/organizer (12 pts), event cadence (10 pts), sponsors (6 pts), platform login rate (4 pts).
One winner per region
Spirit & Culture · National
1MC Spirit Award
The steady force behind the team.
This award honors the organizer who brings reliability, collaboration, and support, making light of the team's work — especially for the lead organizer — and helping create a space where everyone feels welcome.
Nominations: Submitted by Lead Organizers. Window: June 1–30, 2026.
Nominate an Organizer
GENERAL
The 1MC Awards celebrate outstanding communities and organizers who are driving impact, innovation, and engagement across the 1 Million Cups network. Awards are presented at the annual Summit in Kansas City, MO on July 28-30, 2026.
All active 1MC communities and organizers are eligible. Some awards are data-driven, while others — like the 1MC Spirit Award — are based on community nominations.
For most awards, no formal application is required — data from the 1MC platform will be used. However, the 1MC Spirit Award requires a community nomination submitted by a Lead Organizer.
Yes. Each award measures something different, so it is possible for the same community or organizer to qualify for more than one recognition in the same year.
These awards spotlight best practices across the network, celebrate community leaders, and help us learn from one another as we grow stronger local ecosystems.
THE AWARDS
Winners are selected through a combination of platform data (attendance, presenter flow, program usage), demonstrated community impact, and peer or community nominations where applicable. One winner per region is selected for each award.
The Ecosystem Builder Award is shared between 1MC and FastTrac. It recognizes every organizer or affiliate running both a 1MC community and FastTrac cohorts in the same ecosystem. Every qualifying organization is recognized — finalists from every region are acknowledged, with no single winner.
The awards are part of our broader effort to celebrate the network at Summit. Participating communities will gain visibility, recognition, and the opportunity to share their success stories.
REGIONS
Yes. All awards have one winner per region. The Ecosystem Builder Award is the exception — it recognizes all qualifying organizations across every region, with finalists from each region acknowledged.
DATA AND MEASUREMENT
We will review attendance trends captured via QR codes, presenter application, approval, and participation data within the 1MC platform, and engagement across programs for 1MC + FastTrac communities.
Ensure your attendance QR code is consistently used, keep presenter data updated in the 1MC platform, and encourage strong presenter pipelines.
SPIRIT AWARD NOMINATIONNominations open: June 1, 2026 | Nominations close: June 30, 2026
The 1MC Spirit Award honors an exceptional organizer who embodies the heart of 1 Million Cups — showing up consistently, supporting entrepreneurs selflessly, and creating a welcoming, inclusive community.
Nominations are submitted by Lead Organizers, who will identify a fellow organizer who exemplifies the 1MC spirit. Once nominees are selected, local organizer teams will have the opportunity to vote to help determine the finalist from their community.
A nomination form will be shared with Lead Organizers prior to June 1. Nominators will be asked to share a short story or examples of how their nominee demonstrates the 1MC spirit through their actions and leadership.
Nominees should demonstrate consistent commitment to their local 1MC community, a spirit of generosity and service, meaningful support of entrepreneurs and fellow organizers, and efforts to create an inclusive, welcoming environment.
After June 30, nominations and community input will be reviewed, and finalists will be selected based on their impact and alignment with the 1MC spirit.
This award celebrates the people behind 1MC's success — the organizers who lead with generosity, build strong communities, and make the experience meaningful for everyone involved.
SUMMIT AND LOGISTICS
Winners will be announced at the upcoming Summit on July 28-30, 2026. More details will be shared as Summit registration opens.
Selected nominees will be highlighted during the Summit, with their stories shared to showcase how they embody the 1MC spirit.
Program Delivery · National
The High Impact Affiliate Award
Program delivery at scale.
Some affiliates do the work quietly. This one does it loudly, consistently, and at a volume that moves the needle for the entire network. This award belongs to the organization that showed up the most for entrepreneurs this year, running cohort after cohort and putting more founders through FastTrac than anyone else in the network.
Measured by: Highest number of FastTrac cohorts delivered in the past 12 months. Tiebreaker: total cohorts delivered lifetime.
One winner per region
Program Delivery · National
The Sustained Excellence Award
Long-term commitment and consistent delivery.
Showing up once is easy. Showing up year after year, cohort after cohort, takes something different. This award honors the affiliate that has made FastTrac a permanent fixture in their community, not a pilot, not a one-time experiment, but a sustained, reliable presence for entrepreneurs who need it most. Longevity multiplied by output. That is the formula.
Measured by: A composite score of years active as an affiliate multiplied by total cohorts delivered. Score = Years Active × Total Cohorts.
One winner per region
Growth & Momentum · National
The Rising Star Affiliate Award
Newer affiliates making strong early progress.
Every long-standing affiliate was once brand new. This award recognizes the organization that has wasted no time making an impact, moving fast, delivering cohorts, and building momentum in a way that signals something big is coming. Being new is not a disadvantage here. In fact, the energy and urgency of a newer affiliate is exactly what this award celebrates.
Eligibility: Affiliates active for 3 years or fewer.
Measured by: Cohorts delivered divided by years active, rewarding pace over volume.
One winner per region
Facilitator Excellence · National
The Outstanding Facilitator Award
A facilitator who transforms the FastTrac experience from a program into a movement.
This award honors the FastTrac facilitator who creates an engaging, memorable cohort experience, brings additional resources to every session, and goes above and beyond to connect entrepreneurs to each other and to the broader ecosystem. They show up before, during, and after the cohort — because for them, it was never just about the content.
Nominated by: Program Directors, Course Managers, or Fellow Facilitators.
Submit a Nomination
GENERAL
The Summit Awards recognize outstanding performance across the Kauffman FastTrac affiliate network. Each award highlights a different dimension of excellence, from program volume and long-term commitment to ecosystem building. Awards are presented at the annual Summit in Kansas City, MO on July 28-30, 2026.
All awards are open to active FastTrac affiliates, with one exception: the Rising Star Affiliate Award is limited to affiliates who have been active for three years or fewer. The Outstanding Facilitator Award recognizes an individual facilitator rather than an organization.
For the data-driven awards (High Impact, Sustained Excellence, Rising Star, and Ecosystem Builder), no application is required. Winners are determined using cohort delivery and activity data pulled directly from our LMS and CRM. For the Outstanding Facilitator Award, a nomination must be submitted by a Program Director, Course Manager, or Fellow Facilitator.
An affiliate can be considered for multiple awards. Each award measures something different, so it is possible for the same organization to qualify for more than one recognition in the same year.
THE AWARDS
This award recognizes the affiliate in each region that delivered the highest number of FastTrac cohorts in the past 12 months. It is about program delivery at scale. Winners are selected separately for the East Region and West Region. If there is a tie, the tiebreaker is total cohorts delivered over the affiliate's lifetime.
This award honors long-term commitment combined with consistent delivery. It is calculated using a composite score: Years Active multiplied by Total Cohorts Delivered. It rewards affiliates that have made FastTrac a sustained, reliable presence in their community, not a one-time experiment. Winners are selected separately for the East Region and West Region.
This award recognizes newer affiliates, those active for three years or fewer, who are already making a meaningful impact. Rather than measuring total volume, it measures pace: cohorts delivered divided by years active. A newer affiliate that hits the ground running has a real shot at this one. Winners are selected separately for the East Region and West Region.
This award is presented to every FastTrac affiliate that also operates an active 1 Million Cups community. It is not a competition with a single winner — every qualifying affiliate is recognized for their commitment to building a full entrepreneurship ecosystem. If your organization runs both FastTrac and a 1MC community, you will receive this award.
This individual-level award recognizes FastTrac facilitators who create an engaging, memorable cohort experience, bring additional resources and connections into every session, and go above and beyond to connect entrepreneurs to each other and the broader ecosystem. Two awards are given per region. Nominees must be submitted by a Program Director, Course Manager, or Fellow Facilitator.
REGIONS
Regional assignments are based on your affiliate's location on file with Kauffman FastTrac. If you are unsure which region your organization belongs to, contact your Program Director or reach out to info@fasttrac.org.
Not all awards are regional. The High Impact Affiliate Award, Sustained Excellence Award, and Rising Star Affiliate Award each have one winner per region. The Outstanding Facilitator Award is also regional, with two awards given per region. The Ecosystem Builder Award is not a competitive award and is presented to all qualifying affiliates across the network.
No. Each affiliate is assigned to one region and is only eligible for awards within that region.
DATA AND MEASUREMENT
Awardees will be individuals or organizations that collaboratively deploy and utilize both 1 Million Cups and FastTrac.
Yes. Only cohorts and activity recorded before the data cutoff will count toward award calculations. The specific cutoff date will be communicated through affiliate channels. Please make sure all cohort records are entered and verified in the LMS before that date.
A cohort must be fully completed and logged in the LMS to count. Cohorts that are in progress or not yet recorded at the time of the data pull will not be included in the calculation.
OUTSTANDING FACILITATOR NOMINATIONNominations open: May 1, 2026 | Nominations close: June 15, 2026
Nominations can be submitted by Program Directors, Course Managers, or Fellow Facilitators.
No. Self-nominations are not accepted. The nomination must come from a Program Director, Course Manager, or Fellow Facilitator who can speak to the nominee's impact firsthand.
A strong nomination tells a story. It should address how the facilitator makes the cohort experience engaging, what additional resources or connections they bring into sessions, how they show up for entrepreneurs beyond the scheduled time, and how they actively connect participants to the broader ecosystem. Specific examples carry far more weight than general statements.
Nominations are submitted through a link on the Summit website. The link will go live on May 1, 2026. If you cannot locate the link after May 1, contact info@fasttrac.org.
Nominations will be reviewed after the June 15 close date. Two recipients will be selected per region. Finalists and recipients will be notified before the Summit. All nominators will receive a confirmation once the review process is complete.
SUMMIT AND LOGISTICS
Awards will be presented at the 2026 Kauffman FastTrac Summit in Kansas City, MO, July 28-30, 2026.
Yes. Winners will be notified before the Summit so they can plan to attend. Details on notification timing will be communicated through affiliate channels.
Reach out to your Program Director or contact the FastTrac team directly at info@fasttrac.org. We are happy to help. Note: This FAQ will be updated as additional details are confirmed. Always check with your Program Director for the most current information.
One winner per region
