Any resident of Delaware, company or organization with at least one location operating in the state, or group established in the state can be nominated for a Lt. Governor’s Challenge award. If a nominee is a business or school, it must be registered in the state. If a nominee is a town/neighborhood, it must be located in the state. A nominee may be an individual or a group (referred to as an “institution”).

To be considered, an initiative must adopt or enhance policies, systems or the physical environment aimed at improving physical, behavioral and/or mental health. All Initiatives must address short-term and long-term goals that will ultimately impact the health and wellness of Delawareans. (Please note that if you are submitting a COVID-19 related initiative, we expect the submission to go above and beyond regular State & Federal COVID-19 guidance and restrictions. We applaud all precautionary measures during this pandemic, but your award submission MUST meet this special requirement in order to be considered for scoring.)

In addition, each initiative must perform well in the following criteria categories:

• SUSTAINABILITY: The initiative should provide ongoing opportunity for healthier living, instead of being a one-off activity.
• REACH: The initiative should seek to demonstrate improvements in the capacity to address the health needs of a community or a target population.
• OUTCOME/IMPACT: The initiative should demonstrate improved access and/or increased opportunities for improving behavioral and physical health in the state.

This year we would like to recognize nominations that applied healthy living PSE strategies as a particular response to COVID-19, however, submissions that align with (as opposed to going above and beyond) State & Federal COVID-19 requirements will not be considered for scoring.

Policy, systems and environmental (PSE) changes are strategic and deliberate ways of addressing public health issues.  Many health-promoting programs focus on individual behavior change, assuming that if you teach people what will make them healthy, they will find a way to be healthy.  Unfortunately, being healthy is not just about individual choices.  Where you live affects how you live and you simply cannot make healthy decisions if healthy options are not accessible and easily available.  By changing laws, rules and environments, PSE strategies ensure that healthy choices are practical, available and accessible.   A few example of PSE strategies  might include:

• Developing policies and environments that promote breastfeeding at workplace locations.
• Establishing healthy concession stand policies in local parks or recreation facilities.
• Provision of health care access within a community.
• Screening for hunger in facilities and developing ongoing mechanisms to refer hungry residents to food.
• Joint use agreements – creating formal agreements between school districts and non-school organizations to share use of facilities.

All nominations must be completed in full and submitted no later than 11:59 p.m. on June 11, 2021, in order to be considered for a Lt. Governor’s Challenge award. If a nominator misses this deadline, he or she will have the opportunity to be considered for the next Lt. Governor’s Challenge.

Anyone wishing to nominate a candidate for a Lt. Governor’s Challenge award must reside, work and/or volunteer in Delaware, or be involved in some way with a Delaware-based community group. Nominations may not be submitted by employees of the Office of the Lieutenant Governor.

A Delaware state employee may submit a nomination, as long as he or she is not employed by the Office of the Lieutenant Governor.

The is no duration requirement for an initiative. However, in order for an initiative to be considered for a Lt. Governor’s Challenge award, it must demonstrate progress toward improving the behavioral or physical health of Delawareans or a target community population.

Because outcomes/impact play a major role in the review committee’s assessment of an initiative being considered for a Lt. Governor’s Challenge award, an initiative must be implemented before the institution can be nominated. An institution may be nominated if its initiative is in progress — as long as its impact can be measured and demonstrated — or if it has been completed.

An institution can be nominated more than once for the same initiative if that initiative is in progress, has been expanded, and/or can show greater impact since the time of the original nomination. An institution can be nominated a second time if its area of focus has changed and if the initiative incorporates new strategies to address the given area of focus.

If the initiative falls into more than one area of focus, you should choose the one that addresses the greatest need of the participant group, that stands to impact the largest number of participants, or that will show the highest level of positive results. In this case, it is recommended that the narrative section of the nomination form is utilized to explain how the initiative works to improve multiple areas of focus, and then list what those areas are.

If the initiative falls into more than a single community category, or setting, choose the category that embraces the largest positive impact or has the largest reach. In this case, it is recommended that the narrative section of the nomination form is utilized to explain that the initiative works to improve health and wellness in multiple community categories, and then list those categories are.

No. During the process of filling out the nomination form, you will have the option to save your work and then return to this website to complete and submit your nomination. After the application is submitted, you will not be able to make changes.

No. All nominations must be completed and submitted using the online form. If you have a unique challenge that prohibits you from submitting an online nomination, please contact info@ltgovernorschallenge.org. Please note that no nominations will be accepted via this email address.

Informing an individual or institution that he or she has been nominated for a Lt. Governor’s Challenge award is at the discretion of the nominator. We encourage a nominator to consult with the nominee in order to provide the most compelling success story of the initiative, especially in terms of results-driven strategies and measurable outcomes.

If an institution is nominated more than once for the same initiative, the review committee will combine the information from both nomination forms in order to assess the initiative. If an institution is nominated for two different initiatives, each initiative will be assessed as a separate entry for the Lt. Governor’s Challenge and judged solely on its own merits.

The Lt. Governor’s Challenge selection committee consists of Lt. Governor Bethany Hall-Long, members of her office, and selected community stakeholders, whose core responsibilities include advancing health and wellness objectives for the state of Delaware. In special cases — such as when the committee cannot decide between two strong candidates — the Lieutenant Governor’s office may consult with Governor John Carney.

Winners will be notified by email as well as a personal phone call from the Lieutenant Governor’s office. The person who nominated a winning institution or individual will also be notified by email. We encourage everyone who submitted a nomination to check this website on the specified announcement day (Summer 2021, for the 2021 Lt. Governor’s Challenge).

Lt. Governor’s Challenge winners will be recognized on this website, on social media and at the Lt. Governor’s Wellness Leadership Awards honoree celebration event. Winners will also receive certificates of achievement to display at their institutions, plus token gifts with Lt. Governor’s Challenge branding and digital badge for their social media pages — so that winners can share the news of their achievements.

One nominator from each winning institution/individual will be invited to accompany his or her nominee to the Lt. Governor’s Challenge Wellness Leadership Awards. Neither the winner nor the nominator is required to attend in order for the institution/individual to be recognized and receive the award. The 2021 Wellness Leadership Awards will be held virtually.

Winners and nominators will receive an invitation by email to attend the Lt. Governor’s Wellness Leadership Awards. Invitations will be sent shortly after winners are announced on this website.

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