For eight years, the ASAP Awards have celebrated administrative professionals who are making a meaningful, measurable difference in their organizations—and showing the world just how much this profession can accomplish.
At APC 2026 in Nashville, four exceptional professionals took the ASAP mainstage to receive the spotlight they’ve earned. From navigating an unexpected crisis to transforming everyday processes with technology, building more inclusive workplaces, and turning an administrative role into a strategic force, this year’s honorees represent the many ways admins are leading, innovating, and making an impact.
Every ASAP Award nominee brings an impressive story to the table. After an application process, evaluation by ASAP’s subject matter expert panel, and community input, four professionals emerged as this year’s honorees.
And with two brand-new award categories joining the lineup in 2026, this year’s awards offered an especially exciting look at where the administrative profession is headed:
- Impact Award — Celebrating project leadership and operational excellence that delivers measurable results
- DEIB Award — Recognizing leaders who are helping create more inclusive and equitable workplaces
- Administrative Intelligence™ Award — New for 2026, honoring professionals who are using technology and automation to drive innovation
- Strategic Partner Award — New for 2026, recognizing executive admins who elevate the partnerships they build with organizational leaders
A Mainstage Moment to Remember
There’s something special about seeing an admin step onto a conference mainstage and hearing a room full of their peers cheer them on.
Before this year’s four winners took the stage, ASAP welcomed back someone who knows that feeling firsthand: Victoria Worsham, the 2025 ASAP Impact Award winner and Director of Affairs at ATC Development. Victoria returned to APC to introduce the 2026 honorees and help shine a spotlight on the work they’ve done.
Yvonne Acevedo | ASAP Impact Award
When a flood and ongoing construction created an operational crisis at Texas A&M Health Science Center, Yvonne Acevedo stepped up to coordinate a complex relocation—all while keeping the operation running without a single day of downtime or one canceled appointment.
It’s the kind of behind-the-scenes leadership that can be easy to overlook until you realize just how much depends on it. Her colleagues call Yvonne “the glue holding their office together,” and her Impact Award recognizes the measurable difference she made when her organization needed her most.
For Yvonne, though, the award wasn’t just about her own accomplishments.
“Although I accept this award as an individual, I see it as a reflection of the people who have supported me, the colleagues I work alongside, and the mission we serve together,” Yvonne said. “I am proud to represent administrative professionals and the meaningful impact they make every single day.”
Skyler Munson | ASAP DEIB Award
At Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District, Skyler Munson saw an opportunity to help create new pathways for underrepresented employees—and then built a program to make those pathways a reality.
Skyler developed and led a workforce development program that resulted in 13 promotions and 21 certifications, helping employees build new skills and advance their careers. Her director credited Skyler directly with the project’s success.
The work wasn’t easy, and Skyler was open about that when she accepted her award.
“I will admit this project was very challenging and rewarding at the same time,” she said. “This is a really great honor and just a life changing moment.”
Her words capture what made the project—and the recognition that followed—so meaningful: the work was challenging, but the opportunity to help people grow made it worthwhile.
Rebekah Bennett | ASAP Administrative Intelligence™ Award
What happens when an admin looks at a familiar process and asks, “Is there a better way to do this?”
For Rebekah Bennett, the answer was a resounding yes.
Using Microsoft 365, Rebekah automated workflows and digitized paper surveys at Kokosing Construction Company, ultimately saving more than 596 hours and $68,000 annually while reducing survey processing time by 64%.
And Rebekah’s message to the audience went far beyond her own project.
“We are powerful. We are room changers,” Rebekah said. “We are not simply transactional team members checking boxes. We are strategic partners.”
Her advice? Put yourself out there. Raise your hand. Learn the tools. Try something new. Find a better way.
In other words: don’t underestimate what an admin can do when they’re given the opportunity—and the confidence—to innovate.
Rosalyn Adams-Fontanez | ASAP Strategic Partner Award
For Rosalyn Adams-Fontanez, being a strategic partner means seeing the bigger picture and helping everyone around you see it, too.
At Cleveland Heights-University Heights School District, Rosalyn transformed the superintendent’s office into a strategic hub supporting 12 departments and 11 schools, while tracking more than 1,300 action items along the way.
Her own career began at just 14 years old as a hospital volunteer. Today, she’s using that experience to help inspire the next generation of administrative professionals.
“I want them to understand that this is more than just a job,” Rosalyn said. “This is a profession. This is a career. There’s purpose in our work. Room to grow.”
And that message may be one of the most fitting ways to close out this year’s awards: There is so much room to grow in this profession, and Rosalyn is helping show what that growth can look like.
Taking the Conversation Beyond the Mainstage
A few minutes on the mainstage can only tell part of a story. So after the applause died down, the 2026 winners kept the conversation going.
All four honorees joined Victoria Worsham for a 15-minute Innovation Theater session on the expo floor, “The Making of an Award-Winning Idea: A Moderated Discussion with ASAP’s 2026 Award Winners.”
The session gave attendees a chance to go deeper into the work behind the awards: what inspired each initiative, how the winners approached the challenges they faced, and what it really took to turn an idea into measurable impact.
It was a chance not just to celebrate the winners, but to learn from them.
And There’s More to Come
While they were in Nashville, all four winners also sat down individually with ASAP’s Senior Content Coordinator, Lydia Davidheiser, for upcoming episodes of The Admin Edge podcast.
Each conversation offers an even closer look at the people, ideas, and experiences behind this year’s awards:
- Yvonne Acevedo: What Crisis Management Actually Looks Like From an Admin’s Desk
- Skyler Munson: Building Pathways for People Who Didn’t Have One
- Rebekah Bennett: The ROI of an Admin Who Thinks Strategically About Technology
- Rosalyn Adams-Fontanez: How to Turn Your Role Into a Strategic Function Nobody Can Ignore
The episodes will premiere in early 2027, so be sure to follow The Admin Edge and listen in when they drop! If you loved hearing from this year’s winners at APC, you won’t want to miss the longer conversations.
Who Will We Celebrate Next?
Yvonne, Skyler, Rebekah, and Rosalyn arrived at APC as nominees. They left as the newest members of the ASAP Awards community, and as four powerful examples of what’s possible when administrative professionals recognize their own expertise, take initiative, and make their impact impossible to ignore.
But there are countless more stories like theirs happening every day.
Maybe there’s an admin on your team who just transformed a broken process. Maybe there’s someone quietly making their organization more inclusive. Maybe they’re the person everyone turns to when a crisis hits, or the one who keeps asking, “Why are we still doing it this way?”
They could be next.
ASAP Award nominations reopen in spring 2027, and we can’t wait to see who this community puts forward!
