In every community, there are leaders who faithfully serve, often behind the scenes, investing their time, wisdom, and energy so that youth ministry can flourish and every teenager has the opportunity to encounter the hope of the gospel.
Each year, National Network of Youth Ministries (NNYM) pauses to celebrate these leaders through our Annual Network Awards.
This year's awards continue our commitment to recognizing faithful leaders who consistently equip others to thrive. These are the men and women who act as catalysts: strengthening networks, discipling leaders, covering campuses in prayer, and ensuring that the gospel is accessible to every young person.
Each award reflects NNYM's strategic focus areas: healthy networks, youth leader discipleship, widespread prayer, gospel engagement, and collaborative networking.
Together, these priorities move us closer to our vision: to see every youth leader thrive in deeper connection with God and each other, so that every young person is changed by the story of Jesus.
Discipleship for Every Youth Leader
Every leader in a discipleship relationship
Recipient: Danny Fierro
Danny serves as Pastor of Worship and Student Ministries at Grace Covenant Church in New York, where he leads Thrive Student Ministries and shepherds the church through musical worship. With more than two decades of pastoral experience, Danny brings a steady, relational presence to youth ministry, one rooted in deep discipleship and long-term faithfulness.
Beyond his local church role, Danny facilitates the Syracuse Network, where he invests intentionally in youth workers by fostering unity, encouragement, and shared mission. Alongside his wife, Catalina, he also provides pastoral care to ministry leaders and their spouses through Standing Stone, offering soul care to those serving on the front lines. Danny's life and ministry reflect a clear calling: helping both students and leaders grow resilient, lifelong faith grounded in the gospel.
Prayer for Every Campus
Covering every school in prayer
Recipient: Aubrie Kimbrough
Aubrie works with Claim Your Campus to call, train, and sustain one million middle and high school students praying on campuses across America. She currently leads a team of young adults on the CYC 10K Mile Tour, traveling state to state to equip students and adults to launch and lead student-led prayer movements in public schools.
Having experienced firsthand the power of prayer as part of a small high school prayer group, Aubrie now carries that vision nationally. Through her leadership, more than 3,500 students and adults have been trained, and countless students have committed to starting prayer groups on their campuses. Aubrie's faith-filled obedience is helping shape a generation that believes prayer can, and does, change schools.
Healthy Networks
So no youth leader ever feels alone
Recipient: Lynn Ault
Lynn serves as the youth pastor at Hope Community Church in Reno, Nevada, overseeing both middle and high school ministries. His heart for students extends beyond church walls through his long-standing involvement with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and his visible presence on campus as the "voice of the Mustangs," announcing school sporting events and emceeing community gatherings.
For more than 20 years, Lynn has led the Reno ACTS (All Churches Together Stand) Network, cultivating collaboration among churches from multiple denominations as well as partnerships with organizations like FCA and Young Life. His steady leadership has helped build trust, unity, and shared mission across the Reno youth ministry landscape, creating a healthier, more connected network for leaders and students alike.
The Gospel for Every Teenager
So every young person hears the story of Jesus
Recipient: Bill Freund
Bill's ministry is driven by two deeply held convictions: every teenager deserves to hear the gospel, and the most effective way to reach them is as a unified Church. Wherever Bill has lived and served, he has intentionally brought youth leaders together, believing collaboration multiplies gospel impact. After relocating to Arvada, Colorado, Bill immediately began connecting with other youth leaders, helping to establish a new local network committed to reaching 14,000 students together.
In addition to serving faithfully at his local church, he partners closely with ministries like Young Life and Dare 2 Share, strengthening the broader network of leaders working toward the same mission. Bill's passion for collaboration and evangelism embodies the heart of this award: ensuring the story of Jesus reaches every young person.
Networks for Every Community
Communities resourced and equipped to serve teenagers
Recipient: Scott Mathews
Scott has faithfully served in youth ministry for nearly three decades, much of it in a bi-vocational capacity. Raised in Ozark, Alabama, where he leads the Ozark Network, Scott answered God's call into youth ministry at age 25 and has spent 29 years investing in students, leaders, and communities.
Through his work with the Dale Baptist Association, Ozark Area Ministers Association, First Priority, and Christians on Campus, Scott has helped unite churches and leaders around a shared mission: preaching the gospel, equipping youth leaders and volunteers, and seeing God's kingdom grow among students. His steady faithfulness is shaping youth ministry across his city and county.
Networker of the Year
Connecting leaders to multiply impact
Recipient: RJ McCauley
Over the past 20 years, RJ McCauley has served in nearly every youth ministry role imaginable: volunteer, leader, counselor, mentor, pastor, and coach. Saved during his senior year of high school, RJ has spent his life responding faithfully to God's call to build the kingdom.
Currently serving as Student Ministries Pastor at Magnolia Church in Riverside, California, RJ combines a deep commitment to evangelism and discipleship with a passion for equipping other youth workers. His leadership with CSBC Youth, a growing movement serving more than 2,300 churches across California, has created spaces for training, collaboration, and shared vision.
National Field Director, Doug Clark, shared this about RJ's impact:
"Over the past year, RJ has consistently leveraged every event he has managed with California State Baptist Youth, his local role at Magnolia Church, Campus Alliance, and Harvest.org to include many parts of the body of Christ. He's been a stalwart partner in the gospel and has the DNA of networking in his blood! His impact is statewide and his energy inexhaustible. The Campus Alliance/ESES Roundtable in November 2025 was the largest one we ever had, and RJ was one of the organizers."
Whether mentoring leaders or empowering students, RJ's life reflects the multiplying power of strong, connected networks.
With Gratitude
We are deeply thankful for every youth leader who faithfully serves day in and day out. As we celebrate this year's recipients, we are reminded that God works powerfully through humble, consistent obedience.
Thank you for being part of the NNYM family. We can't wait to see how God continues to use these leaders, and all of you, in the year ahead.
Here's to another year of helping youth leaders thrive and ensuring every teenager encounters the story of Jesus.
XOXO,
NNYM