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The FIRST Impact Award (formerly Chairman’s Award) is the most prestigious award at FIRST, it honors the team that best represents a model for other teams to emulate and best embodies the mission of FIRST. It was created to keep the central focus of FIRST Robotics Competition on the ultimate goal of transforming the culture in ways that will inspire greater levels of respect and honor for science and technology, as well as encouraging more of today’s youth to become science and technology leaders. You can read the guidelines on the Submitted Awards webpage.
FIRST Impact Award Resources
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2021 Virtual Chairman's Chat Recording - Watch this webinar to hear from Hall of Fame (HOF) winning teams and Chairman's Judges from December 2020. They discuss everything from the new Chairman's Executive Summaries to what teams should focus on this season.
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2021 Chairman's Chat Q&A - This document answers all questions that were asked during Q&A session including some that were not answered live during the webinar.
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FIRST Impact Award Definitions - To help standardize FIRST Impact Award judging, FIRST has developed a definition list for terms commonly used by teams. Teams are responsible for policing their own choice of words.
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FIRST Impact Award Documentation Form(pdf) - Teams are encouraged to provide documentation during the interview to the Judges. Note that this is not a required form (i.e. you can still be eligible without this form) but providing it shows the Judges that your activities are well planned and documented.
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Previous Award Winners – Teams can view copies of past Regional & District Championship FIRST Impact Award Winners Submissions & Videos
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Past Winners of the Championship FIRST Impact Award (Hall of Fame) – This page shows all past FIRST Championship FIRST Impact Award Winners (previously called the Chairman's Award) and links to their essays, presentation, and videos if applicable
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Having issues submitting? Help is here
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
When is the due date?
The due date for the 2024 season is Thursday, February 15, 2024, at 3pm ET.
What do I have to submit?
The FIRST Impact Award Submission is made up of executive summaries that ask specific questions and an essay. Each executive summary is limited to 500 characters including spaces and punctuation. The essay is limited to 10,000 characters, including spaces and punctuation. The list of questions can be found on the Submitted Awards webpage. Teams are also invited to submit an optional FIRST Impact Award video with their submission. This video will be shown at the event if the team wins.
Who can submit?
Teams can designate up to two student award submitters who can submit for the award. Due to changes with Data Privacy guidelines at FIRST, a student can only be assigned as an award submitter if their parent/guardian has signed the Consent & Release Form. To help ensure teams will be able to submit the FIRST Impact Award by the deadlines, lead mentors 1 and 2 can also submit these awards (in addition to the student award submitters). While we are allowing this option, we still strongly encourage these submissions to be made by students.
How do I appoint a Youth Team Member to be an Award Submitter?
Lead Coach/Mentor 1 or 2 can assign a Youth Team Member as an Award Submitter through the FIRST Dashboard. Only students whose parents/guardians have signed a consent and release form will be able to be chosen as an Awards Submitter. Select the Youth Team Member that you want to assign as an Award Submitter and click the checkbox. For step by step directions see this document.
Where do I submit for the award?
The award is submitted by an Awards Submitter or Lead Mentor 1/2 through the FIRST Dashboard. The student/mentor should login to their account and navigate to their team and click the blue drop down for “Certificates & Awards.” From there, they will see an option to submit for FIRST Impact Award. Be sure to click the submission complete button after entering all fields. After successfully submitting, Lead Mentor 1 & 2 will receive a confirmation email.
What do I need for the interview?
- Students should prepare a presentation. FIRST Impact Award interviews are limited to 12 minutes total; up to 7 minutes for a presentation by the team (which includes set-up) and up to 5 minutes of question and answer led by the Judges.
- Teams needing a translator or sign-language interpreter may include an additional person to act as that translator/interpreter. The translator/interpreter does not need to be a team member. For these teams, the duration of the interview is increased by up to 5 minutes – up to 2 minutes for the presentation and up to 3 minutes for the Q&A portion.
- No more than 3 pre-college team members are allowed in the Presentation.
- One adult Team Mentor may attend the interview as a silent observer and later provide feedback to the team, but the mentor is not allowed to provide any assistance during the interview.
- More specific information can be found on the Submitted Awards webpage.
How do I view my team's feedback?
Feedback is available 48 hours after the event has concluded until the end of the season. To view feedback, you must either be an Awards Submitter or Lead Mentor 1 or 2:
- Login to the FIRST Dashboard
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In Team Options section, click CERTIFICATES & AWARDS button. Then click on FIRST Impact Award
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A pop-up will appear for the FIRST Impact Award Definitions. Click the CLOSE button
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In another tab in your browser, you will be directed to Youth Team Member Registration. Click on VIEW button for FIRST Impact Award.
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On the FIRST Impact Award Submission Summary page, scroll down to bottom of page. Click the EDIT button
NOTE: Your teams’ FIRST Impact Award Submission cannot be edited because the FIRST Impact Award is closed. The data on this page is now read-only.
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Scroll down to the FEEDBACK section just above the Essay.