William Stafford Leadership Award
IAIE established the William Stafford Leadership Award in 2003 to recognize exceptional servant leadership within the Alliance. It is the highest award presented by the organization. The Alliance bestows the Award every other year at the IAIE annual meeting. The next Stafford Awards will be at the 2016 IAIE World Conference.
The award is named to honor the late Dr. William Stafford, former Professor of Counselor Education at Lehigh University, a founding member of the Alliance. He directed the first Alliance Conference, which met on the Lehigh campus in 1982. Over the years, William Stafford provided exceptional leadership and contributed greatly to the development of the Alliance and equally important to invitational theory and practice. He was the second editor of the Journal of Invitational Theory and Practice.
Nominees for the William Stafford Leadership Award should have a minimum of three years of distinguished service and leadership to the International Alliance for Invitational Education. Distinguished service and leadership may be illustrated in one or more of the following ways:
- Outstanding performance over time in key Alliance leadership roles and responsibilities. These could include membership and leadership on committees, editorial boards, Board of Trustees, Advisory Council, IAIE Coordinators and other IAIE activities.
- Significant contributions to the development of invitational theory and practice in published works, conference presentations,and other forms.
- Authorship of articles, books, media, and other publications that enrich and extend understanding of invitational theory and practice.
- Other contributions to the Alliance not specifically mentioned above that clearly reflect the spirit and nature of Invitational Education®.
Previous Winners
 Charles English |
 Ed Gwazdauskas |
 Allyson Schoenlein
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Recipients of the Stafford Leadership Award:
| 2016 | Lexington, KY | Kathy Fields | Joan Fretz | |
| 2014 | Nashville, TN. | Charles English | Ed Gwazdauskas | Allyson Schoenlein |
| 2012 | Hong Kong, China | Richard Benjamin | Barbara Hansen | Ken Smith |
| 2010 | Columbus, OH | Stephen Chu | Eddie Collins | Ken Wright |
| 2008 | Georgetown, KY | Jim Mahoney | John Piper | Charlotte Reed |
| 2006 | Asheville, NC | Dallas Blankenship | Clio Chan | Tommie Radd |
| 2004 | Atlanta, GA | Kate Asbill | Mable Morrison | Jack Schmidt |
| 2003 | Cloudcroft, NM | William Purkey Sue Bowen Dan Shaw Paula Stanley |
Dave Chapman Phil Riner Harvey Smith Mary Lynn Smith |
Betty Siegel John Novak Peter Wong |