Next Gen Nominations Open

The Next Generation Leadership Foundation (NGLF), the D.C.-based, national nonprofit aimed at encouraging and mentoring LGBT youth leaders, announced April 3 that it has opened nominations for the sixth annual Next Generation Awards, which recognize local LGBT leaders under the age of 30.

Selected from community nominations, the honor celebrates the leadership and achievements of young LGBT people. The success of the Next Generation Awards, which were launched in 2009 and presented by Metro Weekly, led to NGLF's foundation last year. NGLF is also slated to sponsor its first annual Leadership Camp for graduating LGBT high school students in June.

''This is an exciting year for the Next Generations Awards,'' Sean Bugg, the executive director of NGLF and Metro Weekly's editor emeritus, said in a statement. ''It's our first year producing the awards as part of the Next Generation Leadership Foundation. We're looking forward to learning about the accomplishments and potential of all this year's nominees.''

Nominations can be submitted online through Friday, April 11. The award winners will be announced in a special annual edition of Metro Weekly on Thursday, May 15, and presented at a reception Friday, May 16, at a location to be announced.

''We're proud to not only continue our support of the awards but to support the work of the Next Generation Foundation,'' Randy Shulman, publisher and editor-in-chief of Metro Weekly, said in a statement. ''As always, it's an honor for the magazine to be able to feature the best and brightest of our LGBT youth and young adults.''

For more information about the Next Generation Leadership Foundation visit nglf.org