Hazel N. Dukes Award Honors Anchorage’s Ashleigh Gaines
NAACP - AOWSACQuick Look
- Who: Ashleigh Gaines, ACT-SO Chair for the Anchorage NAACP.
- The honor: The Hazel N. Dukes Award, presented by the NAACP Youth and College Division.
- Named for: Dr. Hazel N. Dukes (1932 to 2025), a legendary civil rights leader whose values the award was created to embody.
- Presented at: The Juanita Jackson Mitchell Youth Awards Gala on July 21, 2026, in Chicago, Illinois.
- Why it matters: A national honor for leadership, service, and an unwavering commitment to justice, awarded to one of our own in the Pacific Northwest.
Some recognition travels a long way to find the people who earn it. This one traveled from a national stage in Chicago all the way home to Alaska. Ashleigh Gaines, ACT-SO Chair for the Anchorage NAACP, has been named a recipient of the Hazel N. Dukes Award, one of the highest honors given by the NAACP Youth and College Division. To Ashleigh, from all of us across the Alaska, Oregon, and Washington State Area Conference: we see you.
We See You, Ashleigh
Youth work is quiet work. It happens in classrooms and community centers, in long evenings of coaching and encouraging, in the belief that a young person’s potential is worth showing up for again and again. It rarely comes with applause. That is exactly why this recognition matters. A national award does not land on someone by accident. It lands on someone who has poured themselves into the next generation, and whose impact has grown loud enough to be heard from the Pacific Northwest to a gala stage in Chicago.
About the Hazel N. Dukes Award
The Hazel N. Dukes Award is named in honor of Dr. Hazel N. Dukes (1932 to 2025), a legendary figure in the civil rights movement and a lifelong force within the NAACP. The award recognizes individuals whose leadership, service, and unwavering commitment to justice embody the values Dr. Dukes championed throughout her remarkable life. Presented by the NAACP Youth and College Division, it carries forward her legacy by celebrating the people who keep that work alive in their own communities today.
What ACT-SO Represents
ACT-SO, the NAACP’s Afro-Academic, Cultural, Technological and Scientific Olympics, is a year-long achievement program that recognizes and rewards academic, artistic, and scientific excellence among Black high school students. As ACT-SO Chair in Anchorage, Ashleigh helps young people discover what they are capable of and gives their talent a stage. It is demanding, unglamorous, deeply personal work, and it is the kind of leadership the Hazel N. Dukes Award was made to honor.
AOWSAC Celebrates One of Our Own
The NAACP Alaska Oregon Washington State Area Conference is proud to celebrate Ashleigh Gaines on this national recognition. Anchorage is a long way from most conversations about civil rights leadership, and that distance is exactly what makes this moment worth lifting up. Excellence in our region deserves to be named, seen, and shared. Ashleigh, thank you for the work you do for our young people. You have made your community, your state, and this entire conference proud.
To learn more about our work across the Pacific Northwest, visit our Our Mission page or explore our upcoming events.
Stand With the Next Generation
Leaders like Ashleigh are why this work continues. Join the NAACP and help us invest in Black youth, Black excellence, and Black leadership across Alaska, Oregon, and Washington.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Who is Ashleigh Gaines?
Ashleigh Gaines is the ACT-SO Chair for the Anchorage NAACP, where she leads the youth achievement program that recognizes academic, cultural, and scientific excellence among Black high school students.
2. What is the Hazel N. Dukes Award?
It is an honor presented by the NAACP Youth and College Division, named for Dr. Hazel N. Dukes (1932 to 2025). It recognizes individuals whose leadership, service, and commitment to justice reflect the values she championed.
3. Where was the award presented?
Ashleigh received the award at the Juanita Jackson Mitchell Youth Awards Gala on July 21, 2026, in Chicago, Illinois.
4. What is ACT-SO?
ACT-SO stands for the Afro-Academic, Cultural, Technological and Scientific Olympics. It is a year-long NAACP program that mentors Black high school students and celebrates their achievements in academics, the arts, and the sciences.
