2026 Au Pair USA “Au Pair of the Year” Contest Official Rules

Oct 9, 2026

1. Eligibility and dates

The contest is sponsored and administered by InterExchange, Inc., 1 State Street, Floor 17, New York, NY 10004 (“InterExchange”).

Entries open October 16, 2026, at 12:00 a.m. and close November 20, 2026, at 11:59 p.m., Eastern Time. Participation is voluntary, requires no entry fee, and does not affect program status.

Au pairs must be participating in Au Pair USA by InterExchange and in good standing when the entry is submitted and through the prize claim deadline (January 31, 2027). An au pair who completes the program as scheduled before that date remains eligible. InterExchange employees, agents, Local Coordinators, contest administrators, and their immediate families and household members are ineligible. Void where prohibited.

2. How to enter

In these rules, “you” means the host parent or au pair who submits the entry. Submit your entry through the contest entry form at aupairusa.org/promotions/au-pair-of-the-year-form/. Both the au pair and a host parent must agree to these rules.

Each au pair may be entered into the contest only one time. If InterExchange receives more than one entry for the same au pair, it will review only the first complete entry received.

Submit an essay of 300–800 words explaining why the au pair deserves recognition and at least four high-resolution photographs. Entries must be in English or include an English translation.

Submissions must be original, accurate, lawfully obtained, and suitable for public display. They must not infringe anyone’s copyright, privacy, or other rights. You must own the material or have permission from its owner to grant the rights in Section 6.

3. Winner selection

InterExchange will select one grand-prize winner and two runners-up. It will score each entry on equally weighted criteria: the au pair’s positive impact on the host family; the au pair’s contribution to cultural exchange; and the specificity and quality of the examples in the essay and photographs. Entries are judged on their content, not on writing style or English fluency.

InterExchange has sole discretion to evaluate entries, resolve ties, and determine winners under these criteria. Its judging decisions are final. Selection is not random and does not depend on public votes or social media engagement.

4. Prizes and notification

Grand prize (one): A $1,000 travel voucher for the au pair and a $1,000 program fee credit for the host family.

Runner-up prizes (two): For each runner-up entry, a $500 travel voucher for the au pair and a $500 program fee credit for the host family.

Each winning entry earns a prize for both the au pair and the host family, whichever of them submitted the entry. If the au pair submits the entry, the host family is the current host family or the host family the au pair referenced positively in their essay.

Program fee credits apply to the host family’s future Au Pair USA program fees, including extension fees for the family’s current au pair. Credits expire 18 months after they are awarded and have no cash value.

Prizes are nontransferable and cannot be exchanged for cash. InterExchange may substitute a prize of equal or greater value if necessary. Travel vouchers may be issued by ScholarTrip and are subject to the issuer’s terms, including any expiration date.

Winners are responsible for any taxes on their prizes. InterExchange may be required to withhold tax or report prize value to tax authorities. Before receiving a prize, winners must provide any required eligibility, release, and tax documents (for example, IRS Form W-9 or W-8BEN).

InterExchange will notify winners by email on or about December 7, 2026. Winners must claim their prizes and return required documents by January 31, 2027. If a winner is ineligible, declines, or misses the deadline, InterExchange may select an alternate using the same criteria.

To request a list of the winners, email aupair@interexchange.org after January 31, 2027.

5. Permissions

By submitting an entry, you agree to these rules. You also confirm that the other adult named in the entry has agreed to these rules in writing. If you are a host parent, that is the au pair. If you are the au pair, that is a host parent.

You also confirm that every identifiable person in the submission has given written permission for the uses described in Section 6. For children, permission must come from a parent or legal guardian. A submitting parent or legal guardian gives that permission for their own children in the entry.

Keep these permissions and provide them to InterExchange upon request. InterExchange may require proof before accepting an entry, using material, or awarding a prize. Do not submit material for which the required permissions have not been obtained.

6. Marketing and publicity permission

For all material submitted in connection with the contest, including essays, photographs, videos, audio, captions, and supplemental material, the owners retain ownership and grant InterExchange a nonexclusive, worldwide, perpetual, royalty-free license to reproduce, publish, distribute, display, perform, edit, crop, translate, adapt, and combine the material with other content.

InterExchange may exercise these rights itself and authorize its recruitment partners, vendors, and service providers to exercise them to promote InterExchange, Au Pair USA, and their cultural exchange programs. Authorized uses include websites, social media, paid advertising, email, print, presentations, and other media now existing or later developed.

The permissions include use of the consenting individuals’ names, images, likenesses, voices, and submitted personal stories for these purposes, without additional payment or approval. They apply to all entries, whether or not selected for a prize. Editing must not materially misrepresent a person’s statements or experiences.

If a person, or a child’s parent or guardian, objects to further use of their name, image, voice, or story, they may contact InterExchange at privacy@interexchange.org. InterExchange will stop new uses of that material, remove it from channels under its control within a reasonable time, and direct authorized partners to do the same. Print materials already distributed, and copies outside the control of InterExchange and its partners, may not be recoverable. This provision does not limit rights under applicable law.

7. Administration and legal terms

InterExchange may verify eligibility and permissions and disqualify entries that are incomplete, late, fraudulent, or inconsistent with these rules. It is not responsible for submissions lost or delayed by technical failures outside its reasonable control.

If circumstances beyond its reasonable control compromise the contest’s fairness or integrity, InterExchange may modify, suspend, or cancel it and will post notice at aupairusa.org/promotions/au-pair-of-the-year/.

To the extent permitted by law, participants release InterExchange and its partners from liability for any loss, injury, or damage arising from the contest or from accepting or using a prize.

Personal information will be handled under InterExchange’s Privacy Policy and applicable law. New York law governs these rules, subject to any mandatory legal protections that apply. If a provision is unenforceable, the remaining provisions remain effective.

The contest is administered solely by InterExchange and is not sponsored, endorsed, or administered by any social media platform used to promote it.