American Mensa Annual Awards 2023

With pride, we celebrate the members and Local Groups that continue to go above and beyond to help American Mensa thrive.

We annually celebrate the members and Local Groups who go above and beyond to help American Mensa thrive. Volunteers are our lifeblood, and these individuals and groups represent the best of the best.

American Mensa Distinguished Service Award

The American Mensa Distinguished Service Award is given in cases of outstanding service to American Mensa. Recipients are nominated by members and confirmed by the Awards Committee.

Rich Olcott of Denver Mensa continues to take a proactive and unobtrusive lead in sharing information on Facebook, the Region 7 website, and other venues with members. He is the Region 7 Regional Assistant and Social Media Coordinator. Rich provides wise counsel to the Bylaws Committee. He has also served as an RVC and on the Name and Logo and History Committees.

Simone van Egeren Simone van Egeren has been a longtime volunteer for her Local Group, San Diego Mensa, and in the past few years she’s taken on the additional role of American Mensa Historian. The amount of work she has put into finding photos, writings, and artifacts about Mensa is astounding. Last year, she created a presentation for the Annual Gathering about the history of Mensa, and she’s taken it to many Regional Gatherings as well, telling our story. Longtime members light up when their past is presented, and new members get insight into what this organization means. Knowing Mensa’s past helps inform our future. As Chair of the History Committee, Simone is on top of things, organized, and responsive. She has the type of passion for Mensa and volunteering that makes the organization thrive.

National Service Awards

National Service Awards recognize faithful service to American Mensa and contributing greatly to the growth and betterment of the organization.

LaRae Bakerink of San Diego Mensa provided wise, calm leadership to the Testing Committee over the past year. She made valuable contributions to many other committees and projects as well — too many to list.

Randy Brack has provided wise counsel to the Bylaws Committee since 2013 (and also from 2006-09) and served on the AG committee and as a Regional Ombudsman.

Nancy Campbell along with her work as an RVC, has been an active and hardworking member of the Communications Committee — a real team member.

Lana Lee along with her work as the Gifted Youth Coordinator for Region 8 and service on several national committees, built and manages the WordPress templates the Marketing Committee put together for Local Groups and hosted training sessions and made instructional videos on using them.

Ric Werme has been an excellent resource for questions about newsletter distribution and USPS regulation and is an active participant in the Pubs Officer community and quick to answer with essential advice. He gives freely of his time and expertise for projects benefiting many groups and even responds to individual group problems and requests for assistance.

Billie Lee has been a leader in American Mensa’s transitions to social media and webbased communications and chairs the Gifted Youth Committee, along with serving on numerous other national committees.

National Certificates of Appreciation

First awarded in 1971, National Certificates of Appreciation are given in gratitude of a noteworthy contribution to the organization by a member. Recipients are nominated by members and confirmed by the Awards Committee.

Felice Nightengale has provided useful Zoom workshops about how to use Mensa Connect and has been a helpful resource for the platform, always quick to respond to questions with a strong ability to patiently explain.

Linda Seebach has been an active member of the Communications Committee and put in many hours proofreading and advising on the new Local Group Communications Guide. She also revamped and organized the library of content for Local Group Editors, and under her helm, it has evolved and expanded, and newsletters around the country are using and sharing content.

Robin Crawford was the driving force behind the Volunteerism Task Force and Report and updating and modernizing the Local Group Communications Guide. She has reenergized the Mensa Connect Communications Communities and held numerous educational and bestpractice-sharing special events.

Brad Lucht created an ongoing series of monthly presentations, called “Theodore Talks,” and excelled with speaker selection, production, and promotion. The talks draw close to 100 participants each.

Chairman’s Service Awards

Chairman’s Service Awards are presented by the Chair in recognition of superior service to the organization.

Daniel Burg is recognized for his knowledge of all our governing documents and how the pieces all fit together as well as for his vast knowledge of our institutional history.
Brian Reeves is recognized for his wise counsel and willingness to discuss both sides of an issue when asked (and when appropriate).
Taz Criss is recognized for her calming influence during stressful times.

Gifted Youth Program Award

The Gifted Youth Program Award is given for superior service as a Gifted Youth Coordinator and for contributing to the growth of programs that serve gifted youth and/or Young Mensans.

This year’s recipient is Melissa Jenkins of Southeast Michigan Mensa.

Owl Awards

The Innovative Owl is presented to the Local Group with the highest year-over-year membership retention percentage. The Profilic Owl is presented to the Local Group with the highest percentage of yearover-year membership growth.

Innovative Owl awards go to Vermont Mensa, with 96.43 percent retention.

The Prolific Owl award goes to Tidewater Mensa, with 7.39 percent growth.

Jewel Awards

The Jewel Awards recognize participation in Mensa activities and accomplishments, including Mind Games^®, CultureQuest^®, Mensa Testing Day, and Leadership Development Workshops.

Achievement levels are, from highest to lowest: the Ruby, the Sapphire, and the Emerald. Additionally, each of the five Local Groups obtaining the highest points in individual classes are specifically recognized separately as the Diamond Group winner for each level.

Class I (1100+ members)

Diamond: Chicago Area Mensa
Emerald: Mensa of Western Washington

Class II (400-1099 members)

Diamond: Northern New Jersey Mensa
Ruby: San Diego Mensa
Sapphire: Cincinnati Area Mensa, Central New Jersey Mensa, Mid-America Mensa, Charlotte - Blue Ridge Mensa, Mensa 76, Southeast Michigan Mensa, Orange County Mensa
Emerald: Palm Beach County Mensa, Denver Mensa

Class III (200-399 members)

Diamond: East Central Ohio Mensa
Ruby: Mensa of Northeastern New York, Rhode Island Mensa, New Hampshire Mensa
Sapphire: Tidewater Mensa, Dayton Area Mensa
Emerald: Kentuckiana Mensa, Western New York Mensa

Class IV (125-199 members)

Diamond: North Alabama Mensa
Ruby: Central Alabama Mensa, Plains and Peaks Mensa, French Broad Mensa, Northern Nevada Mensa
Emerald: Blue Grass Mensa, Central South Carolina Mensa, New Orleans Mensa

Class V (fewer than 125 members)

Diamond: South Coast Mensa
Ruby: Northeast Indiana Mensa, High Mountain Mensa
Sapphire: Mid-Michigan Mensa, Tallahassee Area Mensa
Emerald: Sunflower Mensa