Since 2016

The Divergent
Awards

Recognizing the educators, organizers, scholars, and communities who diverge from traditional approaches to advance literacy, autonomy, and justice in a digital age.

Six award categories
est. 2016

Research & Practice Award

Recognizes scholars, practitioners, and community researchers advancing our understanding of literacy, technology, and justice — in any context, not just academia.

est. 2018

Publication Award

Honors outstanding work in any medium — books, articles, podcasts, zines, community reports — that advances digital age literacy and equity.

est. 2019

Advocacy Award

Recognizes individuals or groups using any platform to advocate for literacy, students, communities, and equity. No credentials required.

est. 2021

Community Practice Award

Celebrates programs, collectives, and grassroots initiatives building literacy and digital autonomy from the ground up — inside or outside formal institutions.

est. 2024

Dissertation Award

Honors exceptional doctoral research advancing the field. A pipeline for emerging scholars doing justice-centered work.

new · 2026

Collective Power Award

For a community organization, movement, or grassroots collective — not an individual — doing transformative work at the intersection of literacy, technology, and liberation.

2026 Nominations

Know someone doing the work?

Nominations are open to anyone. You don't need credentials to recognize good work. You just need to have witnessed it.

Nominations open April 1, 2026
Nominations close July 15, 2026
Winners announced September 8, 2026 International Literacy Day

Submit a nomination

Email us at hello@initiativeforliteracy.org with the subject line Divergent Award Nomination 2026 and include:

  1. Nominee name (individual, group, or organization)
  2. Award category you're nominating them for
  3. Affiliation or location (if applicable)
  4. Why this person or group — 2–4 sentences. Be specific. What have you witnessed?
  5. Any relevant links — work, writing, projects, social accounts
  6. Your name and connection to the nominee (optional but helpful)
Open nomination email

Who can be nominated?

  • Educators at any level — K-12, university, community
  • Community organizers and grassroots leaders
  • Researchers — academic or practitioner
  • Advocates — digital rights, educational equity, community literacy
  • Authors, podcasters, zine-makers, community journalists
  • Programs, collectives, and organizations (for Community Practice and Collective Power awards)
  • International nominees strongly encouraged
  • People and groups doing the work without recognition

The Collective Power Award (new in 2026) is specifically for a group or organization, not an individual. If you know a movement or collective doing transformative work, this one is for them.

Past honorees
2025 Watch →

Research Award

  • Dr. Cati de los Ríos
    UC Berkeley
    Ethnic studies curricula, writing, and civic learning
  • Dr. Anna Smith
    Illinois State University
    Education Now Lab — research on transliteracies and digital pedagogies
  • Dr. Jen Scott Curwood
    University of Sydney
    Literacy, creativity, and technology
  • Kristen Hawley Turner
    Drew University
    Founded the Drew Writing Project; co-authored Connected Reading and The Ethics of Digital Literacy

Advocacy Award

  • Dr. Karen Wohlwend
    Indiana University
    Young children's embodied literacies; author of Playing Their Way into Literacies and Literacy Playshop

Publication Award

  • "Playful Literacies Across Cultures"
    Special Issue, English Teaching: Practice & Critique
    Edited by Christian Ehret, Tori K. Flint, Jayne C. Lammers, Alecia Marie Magnifico, Raúl Alberto Mora
  • Literacies in Times of Disruption
    Dr. Bronwyn T. Williams, University of Louisville
  • Teaching Literacy Online
    Rochelle Rodrigo & Dr. Catrina Mitchum (NCTE)
  • Reimagining Literacies in the Digital Age
    Pauline Schmidt & Matthew Kruger-Ross

Implementation Award

  • Connecticut Writing Project-Fairfield Young Adult Literacy Lab & POW! Power of Words
    Founded 2014, directed by Bryan Ripley Crandall
    Has served 2,500+ young people
  • The Digital Discourse Project
    University of Pennsylvania / National Writing Project
    Director: Amy Stornaiuolo
  • Furious Flower Poetry Center
    Centering Black poets in American literature curricula
2024 Watch →

Research Award

  • Jayne C. Lammers
    Edmentum
    2019 Fulbright Scholar
  • Cliff Lee
    Mills College at Northeastern University
    Code For What? (MIT Press, 2023) — computational thinking, youth culture, media production
  • T. Philip Nichols
    Baylor University
    Building the Innovation School (Teachers College Press, 2022) — technology conditioning of literacy practices
  • Vaughn W. M. Watson
    Outstanding Publication Award, American Educational Research Journal — literacy and learning practices of Black African immigrant youth

Advocacy Award

  • Dr. Gholnecsar Muhammad
    University of Illinois Chicago
    Author of Cultivating Genius — Black historical excellence in education
  • The Media Education Lab
    Temple University / URI / Columbia (founded 2003)
    Co-directed by Dr. Renee Hobbs & Dr. Yonty Friesem

Publication Award

  • Metaliteracy in a Connected World
    Thomas P. Mackey & Trudi E. Jacobson
  • Pop and Play Podcast
    Haeny Yoon, Nathan Holbert, Joe Riina-Ferrie, Lalitha Vasudevan
    Digital Futures Institute, Teachers College Columbia
  • Restorying Young Adult Literature
    James Joshua Coleman, Autumn A. Griffin, Ebony Elizabeth Thomas
  • Reimagining Literacies in the Digital Age
    Pauline Schmidt & Matthew Kruger-Ross
    Podcast: Notorious Pedagogues
  • Special Issues: Critical Media Literacy Vol. 1 & 2
    Tom Liam Lynch, William Kist, Mary T. Christel

Dissertation Award

  • Christopher R. Rogers
    "Storying a Black Village Poetics of Landscape & Literacies in West Philadelphia" — connected to Black Lives Matter at School
  • Sarah Bonner

Implementation Award

  • #VerseLove
    Dr. Sarah Donovan
  • Somos Escritoras
    Dr. Tracey Flores
Archive · 2017–2023
2023 Watch →

Research Award

  • Dr. Julie Coiro — University of Rhode Island · Online reading comprehension, internet literacies
  • Alex Corbitt — Boston College · Literacy, equity, gaming, horror, climate
  • Dr. Rebecca Woodard — University of Illinois Chicago · Writing pedagogy, socio-political orientations

Advocacy Award

  • Dr. Stephanie Shelton — University of Alabama · LGBTQ+ identity in secondary education; affiliate, Gender and Race Studies

Publication Award

  • Critical Digital Literacies: Boundary-Crossing Practices — Routledge — ed. JuliAnna Ávila
  • Youth Identities and Affinities on the Move — David E. Low & Sarah M. Rapp
  • Special Issue: Critical Literacies in a Digital Age — Pedagogies: An International Journal — Earl Aguilera & Jessica Pandya
  • Advancing Racial Literacies in Teacher Education — Detra Price-Dennis & Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz

Implementation Award

  • Literacies in Second Languages Project (LSLP) — Directed by Dr. Raúl Alberto Mora
2022 Watch →

Research Award

  • Bill Bass — Parkway School District, St. Louis · Technology integration; ISTE Past-President
  • Dr. Cassie Brownell — University of Toronto · Children's sociopolitical development
  • Dr. Tisha Lewis Ellison — University of Georgia · Family literacy, multimodality, STEM literacy
  • Dr. Renee Hobbs — University of Rhode Island · Digital and media literacy education
  • Dr. Betina Hsieh — California State University, Long Beach · Teacher education; co-director Bay Area Writing Project
  • Franki Sibberson — NCTE Past President · Choice Literacy

Advocacy Award

  • Dr. Elyse Eidman-Aadahl — National Writing Project · Executive Director
  • Dr. Laura Jiménez — Boston University · Associate Dean for Equity, Diversity & Inclusion — children's and young adult literature diversity
  • Dr. Summer Pennell — Truman State University · Social justice education, queer theory

Publication Award

  • Maker Literacies and Maker Identities in the Digital Age — Routledge — Dr. Cheryl McLean & Dr. Jennifer Rowsell
  • Virtual and Augmented Reality in English Language Arts Education — Lexington Books — Dr. Clarice Moran & Dr. Mary Rice
  • The Ethics of Digital Literacy — Rowman & Littlefield — Dr. Kristen Hawley Turner

Implementation Award

2021

Research Award

  • Dr. Troy Hicks — Central Michigan University · Digital literacies, newer technologies
  • Dr. Emily Howell — Clemson University · Multiliteracies, adolescent literacy
  • Dr. Ian O'Byrne · Literacy and technology; e-editor, Literacy Research Association

Advocacy Award

  • Dr. Marcelle Haddix — Syracuse University · Students of color in literacy; Writing Our Lives project; Lender Center
  • Christopher Lehman — The Educator Collaborative · Founding Director
  • #DISRUPTTEXTS — Tricia Ebarvia, Lorena Germán, Dr. Kimberly N. Parker, Julia E. Torres

Publication Award

  • A Good Fit for All Kids — Harvard Education Press — Dr. Kelly Chandler-Olcott
  • Classroom Talk for Social Change — Teachers College Press — Dr. Melissa Schieble, Dr. Amy Vetter, Kahdeidra Monet Martin
  • Developing Adolescent Literacy in the Online Classroom — Rowman & Littlefield — Dr. Brooke Eisenbach & Dr. Paula Greathouse
2020

Research Award

  • Dr. Jon M. Wargo — Boston College · Multimodal literacies, youth technology use
  • Dr. Detra Price-Dennis — Teachers College, Columbia University · Culturally relevant pedagogy, digital literacies; AERA Early-Career Award 2017

Advocacy Award

  • Dr. Debbie Reese — Nambé Pueblo · Native representation in children's literature; American Indians in Children's Literature

Publication Award

  • Exploring Critical Digital Literacy Practices — Routledge — Dr. Jessica Zacher Pandya
  • Educating for Empathy — Teachers College Press — Dr. Nicole Mirra
2019

Research Award

  • Dr. Lindy L. Johnson — William & Mary · Director, Eastern Virginia Writing Project; multimodal literacies, digital storytelling, civic engagement
  • Dr. Raúl Alberto Mora — Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana, Medellín · LSLP project; second language literacies, urban spaces, gaming

Advocacy Award

  • Dr. Ebony Elizabeth Thomas — University of Pennsylvania GSE · The Dark Fantastic (NYU Press, 2019) — race in children's and adolescent literature

Publication Award

  • Towards a More Visual Literacy — Rowman & Littlefield — Jennifer S. Dail, Shelbie Witte, Steve Bickmore (eds.)
  • Critical Media Literacy and Fake News in Post Truth America — Brill/Sense — Christian Goering & Paul Thomas (eds.)
2018

Research Award

  • Dr. Sean Connors — University of Arkansas · YA literature, graphic novels; taught on Navajo Reservation
  • Dr. Bryan Ripley Crandall — Connecticut Writing Project, Fairfield University · 15+ years urban education; youth publishing, oral and written communication

Publication Award — Inaugural

  • The Handbook of Writing, Literacies, and Education in Digital Cultures — Routledge — Kathy Mills, Anna Smith, Amy Stornaiuolo, Jessica Zacher Pandya (eds.) · First Divergent Publication Award
2017

Research Award — Inaugural

  • Dr. Donna Alvermann — University of Georgia · Distinguished Research Professor; young people's digital literacies, popular media
  • Dr. Antero Garcia — Stanford University · Critical literacies, civic identity, mobile media; Black Cloud project
  • Dr. Ernest Morrell — University of Notre Dame · NCTE Past-President; Director, Institute for Urban and Minority Education, Teachers College Columbia
  • Sara Kajder — University of Georgia · Digital literacy and technology integration in English education
  • Dr. Hannah Gerber — Sam Houston State University · Gaming and adolescent literacies
2016

Research Award — Founding Year

  • Dr. Sara Kajder — University of Georgia · Author of Adolescents and Digital Literacies; co-editor Voices from the Middle
  • Dr. Hannah Gerber — Sam Houston State University · Gaming communities and adolescent literacies
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