>> Celia Roskin: Good afternoon 
and welcome to the
2023 Library of Congress, 
Literacy Awards Application Session.
My name is Celia Roskin and 
I'm the administrative support
assistant to the
Literacy Awards Program.
We're so glad you've 
joined us today.
Next slide, please.
Today, we will be we will be
discussing the Literacy Awards
Program, address the program's
history, give you more
information about the awards,
the prizes we offer, and tips
for completing this year's
application.
We will have time for questions
at the end of this session.
Next slide, please.
First, a few housekeeping items.
This presentation is being
recorded and will be made
publicly available on the
Literacy Awards website soon.
As part of the recording, any
questions or other participant
contributions may be made
publicly available as part of
the library's archives.
Please use the Q and A box to
submit your questions about the
program and application
throughout today's presentation.
We've reserved time at the end
of today's session to answer
your questions.
Please go ahead and use 
the chat box to
introduce yourselves that can
be found at the bottom of your
screen and let us know where
you're joining us from today.
Great. Next slide, please.
So wonderful to see so many
people on the call today.
I'd just like to give you a
little bit of history on the
Literacy Awards Program.
Since 2013, the Library of
Congress, Literacy Awards Program,
which is generously
supported by philanthropist
David M. Rubenstein, has awarded
more than $3 million in prizes
to over 150 institutions in 38
countries across the world.
Last year, we celebrated the
program's ten year anniversary,
and we look forward to another
award cycle this year.
Next slide, please. All
non-profit organizations that
promote literacy in the United
States and or abroad are invited
to apply to the Literacy 
Awards Program.
Organizations that apply to not
necessarily have to be literacy
organizations. They just need
to be doing exceptional work in
promoting literacy.
The 2023 applications are open
now and will be accepted through
March 1st, 2023.
The full application package
must be emailed to
literacyawards@loc.gov 
by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time
to be considered
for the award winners and
honorees will receive public
recognition for their work.
A cash prize with no
stipulations to further their
organizational mission and
program goals and have the
opportunity to join a network
of past winners and honorees.
Now I will pass it over to
Judy, who will tell us a bit
more about the Literacy Awards.
>> Judy Lee: Awesome. Thanks so 
much, Celia, and welcome, everyone.
My name is Judy Lee, and I
manage the Literacy Awards
Program. We go 
to the next slide.
We can talk a little bit 
more about our prizes.
So every year we award three
major prizes, including the
David M. Rubenstein Prize for
$150,000, the American Prize for
$50,000 and the International
Prize also for $50,000.
Our hope is that today you will
be able to better decide which
award category to apply for
after the information we can
provide to you.
In addition to the top 
three prize winners,
the Literacy Awards 
Advisory Board
will also recommend 
up to 15 organizations
for recognition as a successful
practice's honoree with a cash
award of $5,000 each for their
successful implementation of a
specific literacy practice.
In other words, applicants for
the three major awards who are
not selected as the prize
recipient but who are identified
as having successful practices,
will be considered for
recognition as a successful
practices honoree.
Next slide.
The Literacy Awards
Advisory Board of Literacy.
Experts will review all of the
applications and then the
Librarian of Congress,
Dr. Carla Hayden,
will make final selection 
of prize winners with
recommendations from 
the advisory board.
You can go to the next slide.
You can find examples of past
award recipients as well as
successful practice's honorees.
By visiting our website, you
can explore our winners and
honorees videos, our story map,
as well as an interactive map
also available on our website.
That's right.
So let's dig a little bit deeper
and start talking about our
evaluation criteria for each 
of the prize categories.
The Literacy Awards Program
Advisory Board will review
applications against the
Literacy Awards evaluation
criteria. There are six of them, 
and we'll talk about them
briefly here and a little bit
more in depth as they relate to
each prize category shortly.
So beginning with innovation,
our reviewers are looking for
unique, original, creative and
forward thinking approaches to
literacy. As it relates to
sustainability, We're looking at
the long term stability of the
program as demonstrated through
diverse funding streams and
multiple stakeholder buy in.
For replicability--
For replicability, I always
struggle with that one,
We're looking at and really
asking the question, can other
organizations replicate this
effort or this literacy program?
So we're looking at the ease
and scalability of the literacy
program model.
For evidence-based practice,
We're looking at the use of
reputable research studies to
implement an effective literacy
program model.
For measurable results, really 
looking at impact here, the use of
quantitative or qualitative
data to measure impact of the
literacy program.
And last but not least, also
new to this year,
community responsiveness.
And here the reviewers are 
looking at the
organization's awareness and
response to the unique
identities and social needs 
of the communities served.
So there are six criteria that
our reviewers will evaluate the
applications against.
So if you go to the next slide...
[laughs]
Great. So although the criteria
are the same across all prize
categories, the criterion may
carry different weight depending
on the category.
So for example, innovation, as
you can see here, can be awarded
a total of 20 points for both the 
American and International Prizes.
But if you see for the Rubinstein 
Prize category, there
is a maximum of 15 points 
that can be awarded.
So taking a close look at the
distribution of points can tell
you a little bit more about how
the prize categories differ from
one another, as well as where
reviewers might put more
emphasis as part 
of their review.
So today we have three Literacy
Awards Advisory Board Members
who will discuss the evaluation
criteria and specifics about
each prize category.
So if we go to the next slide,
I would love to introduce our
first presenter for today, Allister
Fa Chang, who has served
on the David M. Rubenstein 
Prize Committee since 2019.
Allister currently 
serves on the D.C.
State Board of Education and formerly 
served as the Executive Director
of Libraries Without Borders, 
which was also the 2016
International Prize recipient.
Allister is also was also a 
visiting research researcher at
UNESCO's Institute for Lifelong
Learning and was featured on the
International Literacy
Association's 30 under 30 list.
Allister, welcome.
And can you tell us a 
little bit more about the
David M. Rubenstein Prize?
>> Allister Fa Chang:
Great. Thank you so much.
It's an honor to be 
with you all today.
I am Allister Chang.
I had the honor to be 
the Executive Director of
Libraries Without Borders, and 
we won the international prize.
And as Judy shared, I now get
to work on advancing literacy in
my hometown on the
D.C. State Board 
of Education.
The David M. Rubenstein Prize is
awarded for an outstanding and
measurable contribution to
increasing literacy levels to an
organization based either
inside or outside the US that
has demonstrated exceptional
and sustained depth in its
commitment to the 
advancement of literacy.
So we're really looking for the
organization that will meet the
highest standards of excellence
in its operations and services.
Next slide, please.
As Judy shared 
the main focus of.
The evaluation criteria will 
be these six variables.
And I can't stress how
important it is for us to have
very clear answers in the
essays that that you will write
as part of the application that
allow us to understand how the
program that you are putting
forward is innovative, is
sustainable, is replicable, is
evidence based, is measurable,
and responds to communities.
Next slide, please.
I get the pleasure of highlighting
a couple winners.
Past winners of the Rubinstein
Prize, including the
Imagination Library, which Dolly 
Parton's Imagination Library,
which is a book gifting program that 
mails free, high quality books to
children from birth to age five
no matter their family's income.
And they received the Rubinstein
Prize in 2021, and this part in
part helped enable their work
to reach a new milestone this
past year, which they now mail
2 million books each month
globally. 
Uh, next slide, please.
And I also get the pleasure of
highlighting the 2015 winner of
the Rubinstein Prize, First Book, 
and one of their programs,
which is the First Book
Marketplace, provides their
network with 24 hour year round
access to an award winning
repository of affordable and new 
books, educational resources
and basic necessities curated
for kids in need ages 0 to 18.
And they now serve 5 
million children annually.
These two programs that 
that I've just highlighted take
different approaches to extend
access to age appropriate
reading materials.
I also want to caveat these two
examples by by recognizing that
getting high quality texts into
the hands of readers is just one
aspect of the many support
systems necessary for effective
literacy programming.
And so we do welcome
innovations and programs that
that chip away at a different
piece of this literacy learning
puzzle.
>> Judy Lee: Fabulous. Thank you 
so much, Allister, for talking to us
about the Rubenstein Prize.
I would now like to introduce
our next presenter.
So like Allister, Chantal Francois 
has also served on the
Literacy Awards Advisory 
Board since 2019. Chantal
is a professor in the Department 
of Instructional Leadership and
Professional Development at 
Towson University's College of
Education.
She worked as a literacy coach
and assistant principal at the
East Side Community High School
in New York, which received the
American Prize in 2018.
Chantal received her Master 
of Education and EDD in
Educational Policy, Leadership, 
and Instructional Practice at the
Harvard Graduate 
School of Education.
Chantal, welcome to our
Applicant Information Session.
Can you tell us a little bit
about the American Prize
category?
>> Chantal Francois:
Thank you, Judy.
Hi, Al. It's so great to be
with you this afternoon.
And yeah, the American 
Prize amount is $50,000.
And this prize is awarded for
significant and measurable
contributions to increasing
literacy levels, particularly in
the United States or the
national awareness of the
importance of literacy to an
organization that is based in
the United States.
And I'm going to talk to you a
little bit about the rubric for
the American Prize.
It's slightly different than
the Rubinstein rubric.
So I'll just focus in a 
little bit on on that.
And I want to talk to you 
as well about a couple of
organizations that recently won
the American Prize and the
features of those
organizations. So if you take a
look at the American Prize
against the Rubinstein rubric,
you'll see that the American
Prize awards more points to
innovation, for example,
because we're looking for
interesting new novel
approaches to the issues
surrounding developing and
advancing literacy and so I'll
give you an example.
Do you mind going to I think
the next slide, so I'll talk to
you a little bit about a recent
American prize winner, the 2022
winner recipient, which was,
Make Way for Books.
And it's an organization that
is based in Arizona that
supports both children's 
and their parents literacy.
They use a bilingual model.
They travel to communities 
to support family literacy.
And they've also developed an
app that parents can use and
access to support their 
children's literacy development.
So we found on the board 
that this this kind of work
represents this idea of
innovation because looking for
new and novel ways to address
literacy development.
And I'll also just talk a little
bit about another weight that we
give on our rubric 
is-- thank you--
the measurable, measurable
results category, because we
want to know from you.
We want to hear from you.
What kind of impact is your
organization having on students,
your clients, members 
of your organization?
And so it helps to 
see some numbers.
What are you using as 
your criteria of growth or
development in reading and
writing and thinking and
communication skills for people
who are young and old?
And again, going back to the 
Make Way for Books example, they
communicated with us that they
use external validation metrics
that have shown gains in a
range of literacy skills among
among their children 
who they serve.
But also there were measurable
impacts that weren't just
externally validated.
They had parent reporting that
parents increase the time that
they spent reading 
to their children.
They felt more connected to the
community of which they were a
part as a result of 
their participation.
And so, as you can imagine,
putting these results together,
we believed was making a
measurable impact on students
literacy development.
I'll also talk to you a little
bit about the sustainability
category. It's worth less
points in the American Prize
category, but it's 
still important.
And so Make Way for Books has
also established and they've
been around for a long time,
they have predictable and
reliable funding streams.
We know that they're going to be
here for a while and continue to
make their impact.
And so I'll also talk to you
about the replicability
category. The American Prize
gives a little bit more weight
to that category than the
Rubenstein Prize does.
And this is really about how
feasible would it be to scale up
this program for other
organizations to adopt those
practices and implement similar
aspects in their respective
communities. 
So we want to know
how has the has the 
organization grown?
How much have the
organization's ideas helped
other organizations in that 
way of paying it forward?
And so I want to talk to you
briefly about another award
winner. I think that's-- 
yup, thank you--
The Parents as Teachers was
organization was the 2021
American Prize recipient, and
they are a home visiting
literacy organization that
supports early childhood
literacy as well.
It is not a requirement to
support early childhood
literacy. It just happens that
that two recent winners did
focus on that.
And parents as teachers is now
the most replicated home
visiting model in 
the United States.
So you can imagine that other
organizations, just like what
we're looking for, have been
able to adopt parents as
teachers practices for their own 
training, training thousands
of early childhood support
professionals throughout the
country, really.
And then I want to talk to you
a little bit about
evidence-based practice.
And the questions were really
focused on here are is the
program rooted in research?
Is there sound theory that
frames the the the the methods
of practice or professional
literature that does similar
work? Does the applicant, the
organization, consult with
literacy experts and have their
program evaluated by experts,
either either who are internal
or external to the to the
organization? And finally, I
just want to talk to you about
community responsiveness, which
is another element of our criteria.
And this is really focused on
how well does the organization
support the unique assets and
strengths of the students, the
clients, the surrounding
community?
And therefore, how does the
program respond to the unique
aspects of this?
And both of our recent prize
recipients really reflect that.
For example, Parents as Teachers 
is intent on
contributing to the overall
well being of families in
settings that are inclusive 
of race, of ethnic and
socioeconomic status 
and diversity.
It really advocates for the
impact that parents have.
They see parents as a resource
and they partner with them and
work with them to strengthen
the ways that they can support
their children with literacy.
And it's also distributed
thousands of books to families
you'll see in Make Way 
for Books as well.
They use a bilingual model.
They actually travel to the
communities where the families
are being responsive to who the
clients and the families are to
better support their 
own practices.
And so that's a summary 
of the American Prize.
Thank you.
>> Judy Lee: Wow. Thank 
you so much, Chantal.
And before we move on to our
next and final presenter for the
prize categories, just a
friendly reminder that if you
have any questions, please
continue to submit them using
the Q and A box, because we'll
shortly after this portion of
the presentation, 
move on to the Q and A.
But before we do that, I'd love
to invite our next presenter,
Don Vu. Don joined the Literacy
Award's Advisory Board in 2021.
He spent over 25 years working
as an elementary school teacher
and principal.
He is very passionate.
He's a very passionate advocate
for fostering the love of
reading and all students.
Don also serves on the
National Advisory Board 
of Scholastic Book Fairs,
and most recently 
he wrote the book,
Life Literacy and the 
Pursuit of Happiness.
So we're so excited 
to have you here, Don.
And if you wouldn't mind, can
you walk us through the
International Prize?
>> Don Vu:
Sure. Sure.
Thank you, Judy.
And good morning, everyone.
I guess it's it's morning time.
It's morning right now in
California, where I am, but I'm
looking at where people 
are shout out to people in
Bangladesh and the Philippines
because it's the middle of the
night for you. And we
appreciate you all being here.
So thank you.
I'm going to talk a little bit
about the International Prize.
And the prize amount for the
International Prize is also
$50,000, and it's awarded to an
organization for its significant
and measurable contribution to
increasing literacy levels in a
country other than 
the United States.
The applying organization can
be based either in or outside
the United States, and the
evaluation criteria for the
International Prize is
identical to that of the
American Prize, which 
Chantal just reviewed.
For us, however, the obvious
difference is that applicants in
the international prize
category serve a country or
countries other than
The United States.
And I'm not going to repeat a
lot of what my my teammates,
cohorts, have have talked about
in terms of the evaluation
criteria. But I do want to give
you some perspective from the
International Prize team for
each of these criteria for
innovation. The question is, do
you believe your approach is
improving literacy?
Is it unique?
Is it new? Is it creative?
From training your instructors
to obtaining resources for your
students to meeting in
untraditional spaces, or teaming
up with local and 
national institutions?
How is your approach 
unique and new?
So we value that as 
far as sustainability.
It's important to us because we
hope that your literacy program
can improve, can help improve
literacy for many years to come.
Applicants that focus on a one
time initiative typically do not
advance to the final round of
reviews as the program is
interested in long term, 
multi-year programming that is
sustained through diverse
funding and multiple stakeholder
engagement. And similar to our
sentiments about sustainability,
replicability is important
because we hope to further the
cause of literacy throughout
the world by sharing methods and
approaches to literacy 
that are scalable.
We hope that more of us can
contribute to advancing literacy
in that regard. Okay.
Now for evidence-based practice.
The International Prize
category is no different from
the rest. Is your methodology
rooted in evidence-based
research theories and or
professional literature?
So we we want to see 
that in your application.
Like the American Prize, the
International Prize emphasizes
measurable results.
Has your program been involved
in a research trial, or do you
conduct regular assessments 
of your students?
What were the results and 
what do the results tell you?
So we would like to know that.
And finally, community
responsiveness again is about
how well the applying
organization understands the
unique needs and identities of
the community in which it
serves. Therefore, what it is
doing to support the needs and
to empower students 
and families.
So those are the evaluation
criteria for the international
Prize. And I wanted to share
with you some of the a couple of
the the past international
prize winners.
We'll go on to the next slide.
Okay, So this is this is 
Y.A.R.I.D. This is the
Young African Refugees 
for Integral Development
received the prize
this past year,
the International Prize.
And it's a refugee led
registered non-governmental
organization based in Uganda
that was founded in 2007 by
Congolese refugees who reached
out to make connections with
other refugees through 
hosting football games.
And for my American friends,
what I mean by football games is
soccer games, right?
Through their core programs.
Y.A.R.I.D. does this.
They support women learning 
new skills and start businesses.
They they meet urgent basic
protection needs of refugee
families, prepare people to
apply for jobs and they teach
English. They equip the next
generation with digital skills
through tech training and
support refugee children to gain
educational opportunities.
And every year, Y.A.R.I.D. 
serves as.
Over 4000 individuals 
across Uganda.
And so we were really
encouraged and impressed by the
curriculum using the primary
languages to teach English, as
well as the ability of the
organization to grow and expand
in their teaching of refugees.
And we feel like this model
could work in other areas with
large refugee populations.
So that is Y.A.R.I.D. the 2022
International Prize recipient.
A few years ago, we also we
also gave the International
Rescue Committee,
the International Prize.
They won the 2020 International Prize 
for its Pakistani Reading Program
The Pakistani Reading
Program supports regional
education departments to
improve literacy and reading
skills of first and second
grade public school kids
throughout Pakistan.
The three components are
teacher training and development
of materials for students and
their educators in local
languages. Policy reform,
introducing policies that
support reading and community
based support for reading.
And they started in 2013 2013.
This program works in 69
districts by the time they
submitted the application.
The Pakistani Reading Program.
Services had reached 1.7
million students and trained
27,000 teachers in 
reading instruction.
And the innovation 
that we saw was,
one, creating materials in seven
mother tongue languages for
children in early grades.
And also they provided access
to reading materials through a
new mobile bus library and set
up new classroom libraries.
And you can see a picture of
that right there, the mobile bus
library. But those are some of
the couple of the International
Prize winners in recent years.
And we hope that we see some
great applications for the for
this upcoming year. 
So thank you.
>> Judy Lee: Thanks, Don. Sylvia, 
do you want to walk us through just
how to-- Oh, I'm sorry, yes, we're 
now we're going to talk about tips.
We've asked each of our
reviewers, so Don, Chantal, and
Allister to share some of their
application writing tips.
So this is coming straight 
from the reviewers, I think.
Allister, do you want 
to kick us off?
>> Allister Fa Chang: Right. 
Thanks. So we ask.
We've put. Time and effort into
making sure that we're asking
questions that allow you to
provide answers that line up to
the criteria that we've shared.
And our our ask and our hope is
to read answers that help us
make sense of how you--what,
what you do lines up with those
criteria. And so for for me,
the the top line tip is to make
sure that your answer you are
answering these questions
directly and you're making it
clear what the experience is
like for someone to receive
your service or resource.
So please tell that story of you
know, if I am someone who is a
participant in the program,
'what does it actually like for
me to be a participant 
in that program'?
>> Judy Lee: Thanks. I think 
Chantal has the next couple
of tips for our group.
>> Chantal Francois: Right. So our 
our advice and wisdom to you is to
be sure that you are writing well 
and clearly we really want to be
able to visualize your work.
So as much as you can make the
actions, your practices, the way
that you do things and approach
your work as vivid as possible.
For the readers who might not
be familiar with your
organization at all.
We really want to 
be able to see that.
So as an example, meeting the
needs of families doesn't really
give us an accurate
description. It's fairly vague.
We want to be able to see you
can include some specific
examples for as much as you can
in the word count as possible.
The other suggestion that we
have is that please be original
in your writing of this
application because we're able
to access your website so you
don't need to repeat what you
have on the website.
But we really want to be able
to know what you do.
And then again, we're repeating
this idea finally, that the
writing clarity is important.
We are familiar with literacy.
We are a range on the board of
literacy experts, of librarians,
and we're also a generalist
audience.
So you don't need to include
jargon in your in your prize.
You have a limited word count.
So please focus particular--in
particular about--about what your
organization does.
And I think, Don, I mentioned a
couple of of tips on yours as
well, but if you want 
to add on to it.
>> Don Vu: Okay. 
I just have one tip.
It's to remember that it's an
award and not a grant.
So focus on the work that
you've done, not the work that
you're going to do, although
there are times to appropriately
include that. But this award is
recognition for the work in
literacy that that you've done
that results in transformative
change in the world.
So so just remember that
because we've seen people write
it as if it was a grant
application and it definitely is
not. And that's it.
Thank you.
>> Celia Roskin: Great. Thank you 
to all of our board members who've
shared some more information about 
each of the prize categories and their
tips. So moving forward, we
just want to give you a little
bit more information about 
how to access the application.
I have just put that link in
the chat, but to access the
application, please visit the 'Apply' 
section of the Literacy Awards
website and download the
application form, which is a
fillable word document.
We also have the evaluation
criteria that's been gone over
during this webinar session
today on our website as a
downloadable word document as
well as application instructions
with frequently asked questions.
And our call for applications
flyer can also be found on our
website. Next slide, please.
Please remember the deadline 
to submit the final application is
March 1st, 2023, at 11:59 p.m.
Eastern Time.
Your email submission must include
two letters of recommendations.
For the recommendation letter,
we encourage you to choose
someone who can really speak to
your literacy program 
and what it does.
The reviewers have expressed
appreciation for letters that
speak from the heart and 
show authentic support.
All of our reviewers visit and
explore your organizational web
page. As a result, we ask that
you do not include URLs in your
written narratives, but
instead, please put more effort
into creating a thoughtful
narrative that responds directly
to the questions asked.
Please also note that we can
only accept and review
applications that are written
in English at this time.
Next slide, please. 
Another note.
Please note that the past David M.
Rubenstein Award recipients are
not eligible to apply for 
one of our awards again.
However, past American,
International, and Successful
Practices Honorees may apply
again if the project or program
that you are applying with is
different from the one that
received previous recognition.
If you are reapplying, you must
clearly indicate in your new
application what is new 
and different about your
organization and the
programming that you're
implementing. Successful
Practices Honoree is not a
separate category that you can
directly apply for, but all
applicants are automatically
considered for the Successful
Practice's recognition simply
by submitting your application
to any of the prize categories.
It's important to keep in mind
that the Literacy Awards Program
is a program that rewards
organizations already doing
outstanding work.
And as Don pointed out earlier,
this is a prize and not a grant
that funds future initiatives.
So please tell us the work that
you are doing currently with
your organization.
So now I will pass it over back
to our panelists and board
members for Q and A, and we will
answer some of your questions.
Keep putting those questions in
the Q and A and we will address
those now.
Judy, over to you.
>> Judy Lee: Yeah, and before 
we do that, I just want to let you
all know we have another 
special guest with us.
I mean, this panel is really
stacked with with all of our
reviewers. So we've also
invited Karen Ristau, who is
our Literacy Awards Advisory
Board Chair and Chair of the
American Prize Committee.
Karen has served on the board
since 2013 when the program
first began and is the 
former president of the
National Catholic 
Education Association.
And although she is currently
now retired, she was a professor
at the University of Saint Thomas
in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
So we're so excited to have Karen,
Chantal, Allister, and Don here
to help answer all the
questions that you've asked us
so far. And so I just would
love to kick us off with a
question we received, I 
think, a couple of times.
One of the questions is, is
this award program only for
organizations that serve 
youth or young people?
Or can it be for programs that
also serve adult populations?
And feel free for my board
members to just jump right in.
>> Karen Ristau:
Can I jump in?
>> Judy Lee:
Yes, of course.
>> Karen Ristau: Well, thank 
you very much, Judy.
I think that question 
really struck me.
And it's almost ironic that all
the people that we chose to
highlight this afternoon are
working with with children or
families. And I don't think 
we really noticed that.
But the answer to your question
is all programs working with any
kinds of people, adults?
Absolutely, yes.
We have seen programs working
with teens, with adult men, with
women. So, yes.
So it is not absolutely not
limited to just children.
Thanks.
>> Judy Lee:
Correct.
And just seems like a good
opportunity to just remind folks
to explore our website,
especially our winners and our
winners section of the website
so you can get a full look at
all of those who have 
been awarded in the past.
Because, like Karen mentioned,
we just happen to highlight
those that are serving youth.
But we have awarded and every
year we do award applicants that
also serve other members 
of the population.
So in different age groups.
Thank you.
We have a question 
from Elizabeth.
Elizabeth wants to know, can we
submit an application for more
than one prize category if 
we feel our organization fits
multiple criteria?
So the question is, can can an
organization submit more than
one application,
for different prize categories?
Karen's shaking her head.
Karen, would you like to...
>> Karen Ristau: I don't think one
 has ever asked that question before.
I can't really remember that
anyone has ever done that
before. My recommendation 
would be not to try to do that.
Spread yourself too thin.
Pick the category that you
think is most suitable and put
all your effort into that.
And I want to reiterate 
what Judy said earlier.
If you go on the website and
take a good look at the past
winners, they give you a good
indication of what's going on.
But I would advise 
against that.
I don't think there's a rule that 
says you can't, but I would
advise against it.
>> Judy Lee: Yeah. So the 
recommendation here, again,
just to reiterate Karen's response 
there, please choose one price
category and use our presentation 
from today, which is being recorded.
Use our evaluation criteria.
See where the different weights
are given for each prize
category to take a moment and
just really think about which
category you want 
to compete for.
And like you heard today, if
you're not a prize recipient
this year, you can always try
again next year, so long as you
didn't receive the David
M. Rubenstein prize.
So great.
Let's see. Here's a 
question..
Allister, go for it.
>> Allister Fa Chang: Thanks. Just 
want to highlight a point that was
made there that
Dr. Francois noted as well.
In the past we we have 
seen applications that are.
May not have been the right fit
for Rubenstein, but may have
been a better fit for an
International or American Prize
because they did not have the
same level of scale and impact
proven right that that we are
looking for for the Rubenstein
Prize. So so please make sure
that you are when you when you
do apply are picking the right
balance of of our six criteria
that that suits your innovation
and program.
>> Karen Ristau: Yes, and if I could 
add to that, just to be very clear,
Allister, thanks for 
pointing that out.
You, the applicant, must decide
what category to apply to.
We even-- we will not reassign
you, so you select what you want
and that's what we do.
We will not reassign you to a
category if you--if we read it
and think, 'Gee, this would be
better for--' we will not do that.
You choose and stick with it.
Thank you.
>> Judy Lee:
Great. Thank you all.
So we've received a few
variations of a similar
question, which is about
eligibility to apply.
So if the organization is a
for-profit or a business,
are they eligible to apply?
[laughs]
Go for it, Karen.
>> Karen Ristau: I think the 
guidelines are pretty clear that
it has to be a nonprofit organization.
>> Judy Lee:
That's correct.
>> Karen Ristau: So, be sure 
that you can prove that you're
a nonprofit.
>> Judy Lee: Right. I think another 
twist to this question was we are a
for-profit business, but we 
haven't earned any profits yet.
Or our literacy program portion
of it hasn't earned profits yet.
>> Karen Ristau: May you 
earn profits in the future.
>> Judy Lee: Yeah, if you take a 
look at our application guidelines
and our FAQ too, you'll notice that 
it says very clearly there that in
order to be eligible for any of
the prize categories, you must
be a non, or not for-profit,
or a nonprofit organization.
So, hopefully we were able to
clarify that requirement.
Let's see.
There's a curious question...
So are these awards meant
directly for programs or
supporting organizations
overall?
So I think this is a case where
there could be a broader
organization. Maybe literacy
isn't their main focus.
They do several things, but they 
have a program focused on
literacy. How should this
organization or applicant
goabout their application?
Should they apply as the
program or as the overall
organization?
Don might.
>> Don Vu: I'm not sure of the exact 
answer to this, but I would say that
the International Rescue
Committee, the example that I
had that won the 2020
international prize, does a lot
of work for refugees 
throughout the world.
And they specifically won the
international prize for the
Reading Project, the 
Pakistani Reading Project.
So it's definitely a possibility 
and it's something
that we've seen in the past.
Be really successful,
so, go for it.
>> Judy Lee: Karen, did 
you want to add to that?
I noticed you unmuted yourself.
Okay, great.
Thanks, Don. Perfect.
Let's see. We had a question
about recommendation letters
would I know we shared a little
bit from what we've heard you
all share with us the reviewers
in previous years about the
recommendation letters that
have stood out to you.
But I don't know if you all
wanted to take a moment to share
any advice you might have about
recommendation letters, about
those that have stood out 
to you, or if an applicant is
trying to decide who to ask to
write their recommendation
letter. Do you have any
recommendations?
For the recommendations [laughs]
Go ahead, Allister.
>> Allister Fa Chang: Yeah, it it 
certainly helps if you have a big
name, but a big name 
alone will not stand out.
So what we're really looking
for are specific examples, and
that can help color-- add color
to the work that you do, how you
do it, the values that you bring 
to the work, how you build
partnerships, how you treat
your partners, how you actually
treat the folks that--that
you're working with.
Really for me and in my past
conversations with with our
advisory board members has
stood out more than just to
someone in a high position alone.
>> Judy Lee: 
Thank you, Allister.
Don, Chantal, or Karen,
do you have any advice
for who to select to write the
recommendation letter?
>> Don Vu: I think Allister 
mentioned the idea that you
kind of want to speak from that 
perspective of somebody who's
gone through your program. And 
some of the recommendations I've
seen that have really touched 
me have stood out are the
recommendations from people
who've gone through the program,
who know what it's like, and
they can speak to that.
So I'm not saying you have to
do that, but that's something
that...
That really stood out for 
me in terms of letters of
recommendation.
>> Chantal Francois: Yeah, I 
agree. I think it's important to
have someone who has some 
intimate knowledge about the
day-to-day workings of the organization
who can, like Allister and Don both said,
can add perhaps another dimension
to all of the work
that you did you do and is able 
to articulate clearly why you're
deserving of the prize.
>> Judy Lee: Perfect. Karen, 
anything you'd like to add?
You've been doing 
this for ten years.
>> Karen Ristau:
I just--
I really support what 
our panel people said.
It's true. The one people that
have gone through the program
and can talk about how the
experience perhaps has changed
their lives, as Chantal said, 
with the intimate knowledge of
your program, I think 
those carry more weight.
Oh, it's lovely to have the
governor like your program, but
I think the ones where someone
really, really knows your work
make more impact on the reader.
And I can tell you all the
things to avoid the template
kind of letters.
But I think what our panelists
have advised is excellent.
>> Judy Lee: That's great. And 
yeah, I know when we were
preparing for this presentation too, 
we had discussed an example.
It sounds like this happens
every now and then where a
recommendation letter comes 
in, and it wasn't for this
application, it was actually
for a different application.
So maybe just also a good
practice to just read through
your final application once,
including your recommendation
letters before you submit that
email because this has happened,
I think.
Karen, go ahead.
>> Karen Ristau: Yeah, and maybe 
I can add there, if you are applying
again, maybe some fresh
recommendations would help.
Thanks.
>> Judy Lee: Yup, right.
This is an interesting question.
Someone asked what a very
effective program with a smaller
amount of students still be
considered competitive.
So there might be a question
about reach and scale.
So if an applicant in this
example, approximately 20,000
students there serving a year
versus another organization,
let's say that's serving 10,000
students a year, just throwing
out a number, how 
do we feel about that?
>> Karen Ristau: Chantal, I think you 
ought to talk about your experience.
>> Chantal Francois: Yeah, 
that's a great question.
So the school where I used to
work was a previous recipient
and served no more 
than 600 students.
But in the application we were
really able to respond to the
criteria on the rubric.
So describing what our
measurable results were.
Talking about the ways in which
we were innovative and what
theory and research backed up
the work that the school did.
Talking about the
evidence-based practice.
So really thinking about those
criteria and being able to
respond to it.
So impact is not just about
quantity, but it's really the
how of the organization that
really, I think matters to the
reviewers of the application.
>> Judy Lee: That's great. 
Thank you so much, Chantal.
Um.
This might go to our points
about prize--a prize application
versus a grant application.
Someone is asking, 'We have a
long running and successful
program that meets the
criteria, but we're also looking
to innovate and update it this
year. Would these aims be
applicable to the application
responses or should we stick to
the merits of the program 
as it has been so far'?
>> Karen Ristau: I'm going to 
suggest that you stick with the
merits of the program. I think it's
delightful that you have dreams
and plans in the future.
But again, it's it's an award
for what you have accomplished
to date. So I think that would
keep your application clear.
>> Judy Lee:
Don, anything to add?
>> Don Vu: So I would 
agree with Karen.
I would say that if you wanted
to include it, you can just to
give some context of of the
work that you you you want to do
in the future.
It's not going to be--
it's not going to be
looked at in terms of the
evaluation criteria, but it
might be helpful in telling your
your full story.
So I would do it.
In a way that doesn't detract
from from the application, as
Karen had mentioned, but do it
in a way that might give a
fuller picture of what your
organization's goals are.
>> Judy Lee: Yeah. Thank you 
so much, Don and Karen.
And I would also add to that
you could always wait a year or
two, also see how your 
new approaches go.
And then you can consider
applying a couple of years from
now as well. We 
plan to be around.
This is a good follow up
question. So if it's not a
grant, is there any post award
requirements, like any
milestones you have 
to follow up and submit?
Does the funding have to be
allocated to further a specific
program? So any stipulations
with the funding?
Now everyone's 
shaking their head.
The answer is, NO.
Maybe funding is not the 
right word to use here.
It really is a cash prize.
There are no stipulations.
We do not ask you to follow up
and tell us how you used the
funding. Although we always
love hearing from our past
awardees and honorees and 
would love to stay in touch.
But no, there is no it really is a 
celebration of the awesome
work that you've done.
>> Karen Ristau: And we'd love
to see it on your web page that
you won.
>> Judy Lee: Yes, these 
are great questions.
I mean, maybe I have 
time for one or two more.
Let's see.
Okay.
Now, if we answered this one,
does the literacy program have
to be a program that is still
ongoing or can it be a literacy
program that has been 
carried out in the past?
Related to that, can the
reference letters be from
partnerships who have
cooperated with the organization
on a program in the past, or
does it have to be a current
operating program?
So, it seems that maybe this
applicant is thinking about or a
potential applicant is thinking
about describing a program that
is from the past.
It's not currently active.
What do you think?
>> Karen Ristau: I don't think 
that would be received well.
I think you need to be 
in current operation.
>> Judy Lee: Great. Thank 
you, And I think--
>> Chantal Francois: Oh, sorry, Don.
I was just going to say for the that
question about the
recommendation letter, I think
that if the writer is still able 
to speak on your current
activity, then I think 
that would be okay.
If they are writing about
activity that you did maybe a
long time ago, we would
probably encourage you to find
someone who has knowledge 
on your most recent and your
current work.
>> Don Vu: I just wanted to 
throw in that first question.
I mean, we have the evaluation
criteria of sustainability, right?
I mean, our focus is to
continue the work and to to to
make it current 
and to promote it.
So if it's something that has
been done in the past and has
stopped, then that that doesn't
really fit what our mission is.
>> Judy Lee:
Yeah.
Great point, Don.
Thank you for raising that.
So we have 2 minutes left.
We're going to I think we have
time for one more quick
question, and that is, do we
need to disclose any of our
organization's financial
statements outside of providing
our status as a or proving
our status as a nonprofit?
And everyone here 
is shaking their head.
No, no. Your application
package is really just your
completed application form.
Again, that word document,
fillable word document, as well
as two letters of recommendation.
Later down the road,
we would ask for 
proof of nonprofit status.
But no, nothing, nothing 
more beyond that.
And so with roughly a minute
left here, I just want to take a
moment to thank all of our
participants for joining us
today in this applicant
information session.
Like. Or like Celia said in the
beginning, it is recorded and it
will be available on our
website probably in the next
week or two. So be 
sure to check back.
Please do reach out to us at
literacyawards@loc.gov
at any time with any opinions
you may have and definitely take
a moment to visit our website.
You'll find more information
about our application process,
FAQs, again, I think looking at
past winners and honorees and
sort of the different categories
is also a great way
to prepare and put your own
application package together.
And a final reminder that 
your applications are due on
March 1st. That is a Wednesday at
11:59 p.m. Eastern Time.
We look forward to receiving
your applications then.
It was great to see and see all
of you and to answer your
questions. We hope that this was
helpful and we'll stay in touch.
Have a great day, everyone.