Volume One Announces 2026 Vanguard Award Honorees

Volume One, the Chippewa Valley’s leading independently owned media company, hosted its annual community shindig, Best Night, at The Lismore Hotel on Saturday, Feb. 7. The event is a lot less awards show and way more cocktail party, and is in honor of Volume One magazine’s annual Best of the Chippewa Valley Readers Poll. Best Night also acts as the live unveiling of Volume One’s video profiles in honor of the Vanguard Award honorees.

The Chippewa Valley Vanguard Awards were created by Volume One in 2017 as a way to recognize high-level community achievers who have made recent, significant local impacts in at least one of a broad spectrum of areas, including the arts, entrepreneurship, social action, government, education, philanthropy, health, business and more. These are some of the people who are helping shape the community we call home – and are poised to continue doing so.

The inaugural Vanguard Awards were held in 2018, and since then, Volume One has awarded three individuals annually. Previous years’ winners have included locals like Dennis Beale, Kimera Way, Mike Cohoon, David Carlson and Erin Klaus, among others. The community is asked to submit nominations each fall via online application; applications are reviewed by a panel of both previous Vanguards and community partners, a process facilitated by Volume One.

Volume One is incredibly humbled to have awarded the 2026 Vanguard Award honorees at Best Night, where video profiles – created by Volume One’s video and editorial teams – of each were shared on the “Jumbotron” in the center of the event space. As of today, those video profiles alongside their counterpart written profiles, are now available to view at VolumeOne.org/Vanguard.

The 2026 Vanguard Award winners include Caitlin Lee, the director of multicultural student services office at UW-Eau Claire; Jackie Boos, the facilities director of Market on River & Wisconsin Farmers Union; and Dang Yang, the director of equity, diversity & inclusion at the Eau Claire Area School District.

This year’s Best Night sold out even faster than last year’s sold-out event; about two weeks before the Feb. 7 event. There were about 750 community members at the 21-plus event. The shindig included a red carpet to strut down in front of photographers; roving entertainers like The Torch Sisters; a dozen or so local restaurants and wine + beer purveyors including River Bend Winery & Distillery, Leinie Lodge, Steve’s Hemp, Live Great Food, The Informalist, Mueang Thai Restaurant, Beez Neez Cheesecake & Sweets and more; live comedy from Eau Claire’s Clearwater Comedy; Volume One’s custom claw machine, and all the fun we could fit into one evening.