We are delighted to share some wonderful news that came out of the 2025 Tall Ships America’s Annual Conference through this message they shared on Facebook. We consider ourselves lucky to benefit from Nancy Richardson’s passion for sail training and education as well, so we applaud this new award name!
“This year at our Annual Award Ceremony, we had the honor to rename our Volunteer of the Year award for Nancy Richardson.
Nancy Richardson has been well known to Tall Ships America and its members since she broke ground as the first woman to become a formal employee with our organization and one of the first women to work in a non-secretarial role for any national sail training organization.
We think that everyone who knows Nancy would say that her impact is felt well beyond her work as a Tall Ships America employee, board member, and leader. She has served as an unofficial ambassador for tall ships and education at sea for decades and has shared her knowledge, enthusiasm, and spirit at conferences, events, and with her shipmates on the 100+ tall ships she has sailed aboard on all seven seas.
Nancy is a passionate advocate for ocean literacy, historic preservation, and perhaps most of all, the value of the tall ship sailing experience and its life-changing effects. Nancy has answered the call for volunteers in our industry for decades with numerous organizations, and it is hard to imagine anyone else coming along who can match her energy, selflessness, and dedication to the world of tall ships. We believe that renaming this award after Nancy honors her efforts and reminds our community of a mariner truly worth emulating.
Thank you, Nancy!”