Honors

I’ve been privileged to be recognized for my work by several wonderful individuals and organizations. Below are some of the most recent awards and recognition.

2022 Ann Snitow Prize – The $10,000 award recognizes a feminist of outstanding vision, originality, generosity, and effectiveness, whose work combines intellectual and/or artistic pursuits with feminist and social justice activism.

2020 Lannan Cultural Freedom Fellowship – Cultural Freedom awards and fellowships are granted to individuals in recognition of their extraordinary and courageous work promoting social justice and the human right to freedom of imagination, inquiry, and full cultural expression. These individuals are typically advocates for education justice, prison reform and abolition, environmental justice and protection, social and economic justice, human rights, and press and journalistic freedom.

Mariame Kaba Graduate Fellowship in Black Feminist Research – UCLA Center for Women Studies – Black Feminist Initiative — The CSW Black Feminism Initiative (BFI) has established two fellowships to support intellectual work that centers black feminist frameworks of analysis.  In the tradition of abolitionist feminist activism and labor, the BFI Graduate Fellowships seek to advance black feminist work on any topic with a focus on scholarship that interrogates historical and ongoing regimes of violence, enclosure, and captivity and offers original insights for conceiving of freedom, redress, abolition, and refusal.

2019 Melanie Kaye/Kantrowitz Visionary Awardat the Mazals by Jews for Racial and Economic Justice and the Jewish Vote

2019 Morton Deutsch Awards for Social Justice — These annual awards in the name of Morton Deutsch, the eminent social psychologist and founder of the MD-ICCCR, honor a distinguished scholar-practitioner in the field of social justice and an exemplary student paper on social justice.

2019 Visionary Voice Award — The award, offered by the National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC) as part of Sexual Assault Awareness Month, honors individuals throughout the country who are doing outstanding work in the field of anti-sexual violence.

The 2018 Bitch 50 — The Bitch 50 recognizes the most impactful creators, artists, and activists in pop culture whose imaginations extend beyond normalizing and affirming the same mainstream messages. The Bitch 50 have utilized their creative or political power to further advance visibility, equality, or access for marginal folks—especially LGBTQ communities of color.

Essence Magazine 2018 #Woke100 — For the second year in a row, ESSENCE honors the women who are proven change agents, shape-shifters and power players across the nation and beyond. These women continuously fight the good fight by inspiring us and igniting movements—from the healthcare field to the Hill to Hollywood.

2017 Peace Award by War Resisters League — Since 1958, WRL has awarded almost annually its War Resisters League Peace Award to a person or organization whose work represents the League’s radical nonviolent program of Gandhian action.

2017 Ron Sable Award for Activism by the Crossroads Fund — The Ron Sable Award for Activism is a living memorial to the man whose clarity, wisdom, honesty, and leadership continues to guide Chicago’s community members. Each year, awards are distributed to a grantee organization and an individual or group who has made a significant impact on Chicago’s communities. We are proud to honor Ron and his lifelong commitment to social change.

2016 SOROS Justice Fellowship — The Soros Justice Fellowships fund outstanding individuals to undertake projects that advance reform, spur debate, and catalyze change on a range of issues facing the U.S. criminal justice system. The fellowships are part of a larger effort within the Open Society Foundations to reduce the destructive impact of current criminal justice policies on the lives of individuals, families, and communities in the United States by challenging the overreliance on incarceration and extreme punishment, and ensuring a fair and accountable system of justice.

2016 AERA Ella Baker/Septima Clark Human Rights Award – from Division B of the American Educational Research Association (AERA). This annual award honors a scholar whose work embodies the connection between curriculum studies and human rights. Possible domains of work include local or national or international or indigenous sites of struggle, community education, K-12 public schooling, and curriculum policy.

2015 Women to Celebrate Award – recognizing women who have made significant contributions to Chicago’s organizing communities (with focus on challenging) state violence, March 11, 2015

Lawndale Christian Legal Center “2014 Partner in Justice Award” – November 14, 2014

Now Chicago — Women Who Dared Award 2014 — Vernita Gray Community Advocate Award. September 18, 2014 ceremony

Reconnecting the Pathways — Data/Research award in recognition of excellence in improving outcomes for young people and communities in Illinois (June 2014).

Chicago Foundation for Women — 2014 Impact Award – for leadership and contributions to improving women’s and girls’ lives in Chicago (awarded on 3/14/14, honoree video)

Bright Promises Foundation — 2013 Ed Marciniak Bright Star Award – in honor of excellent work benefiting vulnerable children in the state of Illinois (October 30, 2013)

A Long Walk Home — 2012 Courage Tour Award , for Outstanding Vision, Dedication, and Lifelong Commitment to Empowering Girls and Women.

Sexuality Health Education to End Rape – 2012 SHEER CHANGE AWARD, for exceptional commitment to leadership in activism for rape prevention and sexual wellness in the city of Chicago (March 29, 2012)

December 2011 at the Interrupters Event
December 2011 at the Interrupters Event

Community Cinema honored several Chicago women (including myself) after a screening of the documentary “The Interrupters” for our work in addressing violence in the lives of youth (December 17, 2011).

The Balanced and Restorative Justice (BARJ) Task Force of Cook County Juvenile Court — 2011 Certificate of Recognition, in appreciation for efforts in advancing the principles and values of balanced and restorative justice benefiting our youth, victims, and communities (May 17, 2011)

State Senator Heather Steans –2010 7th District Community Award, in recognition of leadership on youth and women’s issues in Rogers Park (October 4, 2010)

Chicago Department of Public Health, Office of Violence Prevention 2010 Community Spirit Award, in recognition of exemplary commitment and enthusiastic support of the work of Chicago Safe Start (preventing childhood exposure to violence, April 23, 2010)

Chicago Metropolitan Battered Women’s Network — 2008 Community Advocate Award — for Outstanding Leadership and Contribution in the Work Against Domestic Violence (March 27, 2008)

Illinois Coalition against Sexual Assault — 2007 Moxie Award (with YWAT) — for creative efforts to end sexual violence (May 30, 2007)