The Divergent
Awards
The Divergent Awards recognize thoughtful, courageous, community-rooted work in literacy, education, organizing, and digital life.
They are meant to notice meaningful work, including work that happens outside the usual centers of visibility and prestige.
Six award categories
Research & Practice Award
Recognizes scholars, practitioners, and community researchers advancing our understanding of literacy, technology, and justice — in any context, not just academia.
Publication Award
Honors outstanding work in any medium — books, articles, podcasts, zines, community reports — that advances digital age literacy and equity.
Advocacy Award
Recognizes individuals or groups using any platform to advocate for literacy, students, communities, and equity. No credentials required.
Community Practice Award
Celebrates programs, collectives, and grassroots initiatives building literacy and digital autonomy from the ground up — inside or outside formal institutions.
Dissertation Award
Honors exceptional doctoral research advancing the field. A pipeline for emerging scholars doing justice-centered work.
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.
Know someone doing meaningful work?
Nominations are open to anyone. You do not need credentials to recognize care, courage, or imagination. You just need to have seen the work and want to name it.
What are we looking for?
The strongest nominations help us see work that is grounded, generous, and genuinely useful to other people.
- Real impact — the work has had a clear effect on learners, communities, research, or public life.
- Care and integrity — the work reflects generosity, courage, and responsibility to others.
- Something worth noticing — the nominee is doing meaningful work, even if it sits outside traditional prestige channels.
How selections work
Nominations are reviewed by InitiatED. We read closely, compare nominees across categories, and look for work that is sustained, relational, and genuinely consequential.
We may choose more than one honoree in a category, and we may choose not to award a category in a given year. The goal is not to fill every slot. The goal is to recognize work that truly deserves attention.
Categories have evolved over time. Earlier years used slightly different labels, and we may continue refining them as the Awards grow.
Submit a nomination
Email us at hello@initiativeforliteracy.org with the subject line Divergent Award Nomination 2026 and include:
- Nominee name (individual, group, or organization)
- Award category you're nominating them for
- Why this person or group matters — 2 to 4 specific sentences
- Relevant links — work, writing, projects, or profiles
- Your connection to the nominee (optional)
If the button below does not open your email app, send your nomination directly to hello@initiativeforliteracy.org.
Start a nomination emailWho 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 meaningful work without much 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.
A glimpse of the work we’ve recognized
These recent cohorts give a sense of the people, projects, and communities the Awards try to notice. The full archive is still available if you want the longer history.
View full archiveResearch Award
- Dr. Cati de los RíosUC BerkeleyEthnic studies curricula, writing, and civic learning
- Illinois State UniversityEducation Now Lab — research on transliteracies and digital pedagogies
- Dr. Jen Scott CurwoodUniversity of SydneyLiteracy, creativity, and technology
- Kristen Hawley TurnerDrew UniversityFounded the Drew Writing Project; co-authored Connected Reading and The Ethics of Digital Literacy
Advocacy Award
- Dr. Karen WohlwendIndiana UniversityYoung 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 & CritiqueEdited by Christian Ehret, Tori K. Flint, Jayne C. Lammers, Alecia Marie Magnifico, Raúl Alberto Mora
- Literacies in Times of DisruptionDr. Bronwyn T. Williams, University of Louisville
- Teaching Literacy OnlineRochelle Rodrigo & Dr. Catrina Mitchum (NCTE)
- Reimagining Literacies in the Digital AgePauline Schmidt & Matthew Kruger-Ross
Implementation Award
- Connecticut Writing Project-Fairfield Young Adult Literacy Lab & POW! Power of WordsFounded 2014, directed by Bryan Ripley CrandallHas served 2,500+ young people
- The Digital Discourse ProjectUniversity of Pennsylvania / National Writing ProjectDirector: Amy Stornaiuolo
- Furious Flower Poetry CenterCentering Black poets in American literature curricula
Research Award
- Jayne C. LammersEdmentum2019 Fulbright Scholar
- Cliff LeeMills College at Northeastern UniversityCode For What? (MIT Press, 2023) — computational thinking, youth culture, media production
- T. Philip NicholsBaylor UniversityBuilding the Innovation School (Teachers College Press, 2022) — technology conditioning of literacy practices
- Vaughn W. M. WatsonOutstanding Publication Award, American Educational Research Journal — literacy and learning practices of Black African immigrant youth
Advocacy Award
- Dr. Gholnecsar MuhammadUniversity of Illinois ChicagoAuthor of Cultivating Genius — Black historical excellence in education
- Temple University / URI / Columbia (founded 2003)Co-directed by Dr. Renee Hobbs & Dr. Yonty Friesem
Publication Award
- Thomas P. Mackey & Trudi E. Jacobson
- Pop and Play PodcastHaeny Yoon, Nathan Holbert, Joe Riina-Ferrie, Lalitha VasudevanDigital Futures Institute, Teachers College Columbia
- Restorying Young Adult LiteratureJames Joshua Coleman, Autumn A. Griffin, Ebony Elizabeth Thomas
- Reimagining Literacies in the Digital AgePauline Schmidt & Matthew Kruger-RossPodcast: Notorious Pedagogues
- Special Issues: Critical Media Literacy Vol. 1 & 2Tom Liam Lynch, William Kist, Mary T. Christel
Dissertation Award
- "Storying a Black Village Poetics of Landscape & Literacies in West Philadelphia" — connected to Black Lives Matter at School
- Sarah Bonner
Implementation Award
- #VerseLoveDr. Sarah Donovan
- Somos EscritorasDr. Tracey Flores
Quick questions
Can I nominate myself or my own group?
Yes. Self-nominations are welcome, especially for people and groups whose work may otherwise go unseen.
Can I nominate more than one person?
Yes. You can submit more than one nomination if each one is thoughtful and specific.
Can one nominee fit more than one category?
Yes. Choose the category that feels strongest to you, and we can make adjustments during review if needed.
Will every award be given every year?
No. We may choose not to award a category in a given year. We would rather be thoughtful and selective than treat the Awards like a checklist.
Follow the Awards and what comes next.
Join the InitiatED newsletter for Divergent Awards updates, announcements, community invitations, and occasional notes about the work we are building together.
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