Difference Maker Projects and Awards

The Rick Hansen Foundation School Program (RHFSP) Difference Maker of the Year Awards celebrate and recognize youth between the ages 5-18 years old that are leaders in making a positive impact for inclusion and accessibility for people with disabilities in their school or wider community.

Nominations for the 2024-2025 school year have now closed. The award recipients were announced during National AccessAbility Week, May 25 to 31, 2025. Individual award recipients will each receive $500 to recognize their work, while classrooms and youth groups will receive $1,000 to share. Learn more about our past recipients and get inspired with unique ways to make a difference in your school or community. 

Watch the Difference Maker of the Year Awards video!

Nomination Eligibility Criteria 

• Youth between ages 5-18 (individuals or groups)
• Have positively impacted accessibility and inclusion in the classroom, school or community benefitting persons with vision, hearing, and/or mobility disabilities (i.e., the activity or project’s main focus may have been improving accessibility for a different type of disability, but must also have benefits for people with vision, hearing, and/or mobility disabilities)
• Addressed a community need of persons with disabilities and involved people with disabilities in the solution
• Majority of project completed between May 1, 2024 – April 6, 2025
• Resident(s) of Canada
• Nominee(s) have consented to being nominated
• Self-nominations must provide a reference from an unrelated adult that has direct knowledge of the individual and the project or activity undertaken
• Must not have received an RHFSP Difference Maker of the Year award in the past 3 years

Key Dates:

Nominations open: January 12, 2025 at 2:00 PM Pacific Time

Nomination deadline: April 6, 2025 at 11:59 PM Pacific Time

Notification to nominators if their nominee has been selected: April 22, 2025

Award recipients announced publicly: During National AccessAbility Week 2025 (May 25-31, 2025)

So I’ve made a nomination, what happens next?

• Once the nomination period closes on April 6, 2025 all nominations will be reviewed to ensure that they meet eligibility criteria
• Eligible nominations will be reviewed by the Difference Maker Award Selection Committee, that will then select 3-5 award recipients
• Recipients will be notified by April 22, 2025
• Recipients will receive a cash prize ($500 for individual projects and $1000 for group/classroom projects), a certificate and a congratulations letter from Rick Hansen, and public recognition from the Rick Hansen Foundation

F.A.Q.

1. What do you mean by "positively impacting accessibility and inclusion benefitting persons with vision, hearing, and/or mobility disabilities?"

RHF recognizes projects that consider Universal Design for all. Your project may not have been designed or created specifically for people with vision, hearing, and/or mobility disabilities, however, if you can describe how your project can also impact those disabilities, it may be considered eligible. An example may be enhancements to a sensory room in a school, which mainly benefits students with sensory processing disorder, but is also designed to ensure ease of use for students with mobility disabilities and navigation for students with vision disabilities. 

2. What if the Difference Makers are a group of students working on a project together, or are part of a club?

Nominees can be individuals or a youth group who participate in a joint project or start a club, for example.   

3. What if the person has been nominated or received a RHFSP Difference Maker Award before?

If an individual or group was previously nominated and did not receive an award, they can be nominated again as long as they are being nominated for a project where the majority of work took place between May 1, 2024-April 6, 2025. If an individual or group received an award in the past 3 years, they are ineligible to be nominated again.

4. Why do I have to tell the person I am nominating before I submit my nomination to RHF?

RHF would like to celebrate the great work of all the Nominees and may share information about the nomination through emails and social media channels leading up to the award announcement during National AccessAbility Week (May 25-31, 2025). For this reason, we require that the Nominator has the permission of the Nominee to submit the online nomination.  

5. Can I nominate a youth that turned 19? 

If the Nominee turns 19 during the nomination period, that is acceptable – as long as they were 18 for the majority of the project period. Anyone over the age of 18 for the majority of the project period is not eligible.

6. Can I nominate a teacher? 

While we have awarded educators, coaches, and youth group leaders in the past, the 2024-25 RHFSP Difference Maker of the Year awards will be awarded to youth between the ages of 5-18.

7. Can I nominate myself, my friend or a family member?   

Yes, you are welcome to nominate yourself, a friend, or a family member! If you are nominating yourself, you will be asked to provide a reference from an unrelated adult that knows you and has knowledge of the project undertaken.

8. Any tips on submitting a nomination? 

Your description should provide a well-rounded picture of the Nominee and the positive impact of their actions. Concrete examples of the general and specific efforts and contributions the Nominee makes in the school or community and their impact, the qualities that make the individual or group/class a worthy recipient, and how these have improved inclusion and accessibility for people with disabilities. If the Nominee’s project/activity did not focus on a vision, hearing, and/or mobility disability, please be sure to describe how the project may also benefit those with a vision, hearing, and/or mobility disability, otherwise the project may be considered ineligible.

If you have any further questions about the Difference Maker Awards, please contact us at schools@rickhansen.com.