The Montgomery County Commission on Children and Youth has named three recipients of the 2026 Dr. Nancy Dworkin Award for Outstanding Service to Youth, marking the return of the countywide recognition for the first time since 2019.
The award recognized individuals and organizations serving Montgomery County youth for 33 years before being paused in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 2026 recipients are Wylea Chase, who received the Adult Volunteer Award; Alexandra Cox, who received the Youth Award; and the Education Committee of the Montgomery County, Maryland Section of the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW), which received the Nonprofit Partner Award.
Chase is a community advocate and education leader who serves as senior director of Collective Impact at Leadership Montgomery. She previously spent three years as chief operating officer of the Black and Brown Coalition for Educational Equity and Excellence and has more than 15 years of service with the NAACP Parent Council.
She has also been active with the Montgomery County Council of PTAs, the African American Advisory Group, and Pride Youth Services, with much of her work focused on educational equity, family engagement, and opportunities for Black, Brown, and low-income students.
Cox, 18, of Gaithersburg, served for two years on the Commission on Children and Youth, including one year as chair of its youth subcommittee. She led a team of seven young people from across the county and helped organize the Commission’s first in-person Youth Voice Roundtable since before the pandemic.
A recent graduate of Holton-Arms School, Cox is now studying at Brown University and has interests in social justice, health equity, and youth representation in policy.
The Education Committee of the Montgomery County Section of NCNW was recognized for providing mentorship, leadership development, and other resources to local students.
Its flagship F.A.M.E. (Females Achieving and Maintaining Excellence) program runs from September through June and meets at the White Oak Recreation Center. The program connects students with mentors and role models while focusing on leadership, communication, critical thinking, academic success, and community involvement.
The committee has also focused on student mental health, scholarships, tutoring, and mentoring and awards the Dr. Judith Docca Academic Excellence Scholarships to Montgomery County high school seniors.
The Dr. Nancy Dworkin Award is named for a former chair of the Commission on Children and Youth who died in 1987. Dworkin directed the Center for Unique Learners, a Rockville school serving children with learning disabilities, and promoted a philosophy of “teaching to strength” to help students develop their abilities and reach their potential.
“The Dworkin Award was paused during the pandemic, but the work it recognizes never stopped,” Commission Chair Michael A. Jiménez Jr. said. “Bringing this award back was one of the Commission’s priorities this year because we believe it is more important than ever to shine a light on the people and organizations showing up for our young people.”
The Commission is publicly recognizing this year’s recipients rather than holding a formal ceremony as it re-establishes the award program.
