Elevate Prize Winners Gain More Than $300k In Funding. They Learn To Better Tell Their Own Stories

For Mónica Ramírez, being named 1 of this year’s 10 Elevate Prize winners intends truthful overmuch much than nan monetary and structural support that comes pinch it.

It intends nan activity she does pinch her Fremont, Ohio-based nonprofit Justice for Migrant Women, which advocates for nan authorities and needs of migrant women and different marginalized communities, is still weighted contempt nan Trump administration’s migration crackdown.

“As migrant and migrant organization members are being threatened and attacked astir our country, it’s really important to person shows of support for illustration nan Elevate Prize is providing because we’ve seen a retraction -- a large retraction -- successful support,” said Ramirez, who burst into tears erstwhile she learned she had won. “The grant intends we are capable to do nan activity that we cognize is truthful urgently needed.”

Like each Elevate Prize winners announced Tuesday, Justice for Migrant Women will person $300,000 successful unrestricted backing and Ramirez, its laminitis and president, will person support and training connected organizational maturation and expanding nan group’s visibility.

Elevate Prize Foundation CEO Carolina Garcia Jayaram told The Associated Press that a group’s nationalist floor plan has go much important these days. Not only does it thief pinch fundraising and informing nan public, but visibility “is besides a shape of protection,” she said.

“It’s much important than ever to double down connected leaders for illustration Monica,” said Jayaram, adding that 1 of past year’s Elevate Prize winners, Imran Ahmed, CEO of nan Center for Countering Digital Hate, had been barred from nan United States by nan State Department past twelvemonth for what Secretary of State Marco Rubio called “organized efforts to coerce American platforms to censor, demonetize and suppress American viewpoints they oppose.” A national judge successful December blocked nan Trump management from detaining Ahmed, a British national who lives successful Washington.

To thief Elevate Prize winners get much attraction for their work, Jayaram said nan instauration is launching “Good Is Trending,” an inaugural that will see taking complete NASDAQ's Times Square advertisements connected Tuesday to radiance a spotlight connected nan winners.

That bigger spotlight is thing prize victor Mara Fleishman, CEO of Chef Ann Foundation, which brings made-from-scratch meals to schools, hopes will bring her nonprofit to nan adjacent level. The Boulder, Colorado-based statement has already attracted support from nan U.S. Department of Agriculture and Waverley Street Foundation for its work, which supports simple and secondary schools successful processing menus that are little limited connected processed foods and utilize much caller section produce.

“We’ve worked pinch complete 17,000 schools and reached much than 5 cardinal kids,” Fleishman said. “But really do we return nan activity we’ve done and move it into thing digestible for legislators and advocates to understand what is possible?”

Fleishman said her instauration needs to find ways to get nan nationalist to go a “force multiplier” for its connection and transportation it into schoolhouse committee meetings and statehouses astir nan country.

A batch of that activity tin beryllium done done storytelling, Jayaram said. And nan Elevate Prize action sheet took nan imaginable stories nan nominees could show into relationship erstwhile choosing nan winners.

“People salary much attraction to group than they do to issues,” Jayaram said. “So erstwhile you tin crushed an rumor successful nan communicative of a person, of a community, of a neighborhood, abruptly nan full world tin commencement to prosecute and subordinate to that because it’s not that different from a organization and a vicinity and a family location else.”

The Elevate Prize Foundation has believed successful nan powerfulness of storytelling for years. Last year, it moreover launched its ain accumulation location Elevate Studios to show nan stories of its prize winners much effectively, connected platforms ranging from YouTube videos to feature-length documentaries released successful theaters.

Ramirez says she looks guardant to telling nan stories of nan group she supports done Justice for Migrant Women.

“I really deliberation that nan Elevate Prize is going to thief america springiness a microphone to nan group that we serve,” she said. “That’s my hope.”

The 2026 people of Elevate Prize winners are: Shabana Basij-Rasikh, president and co-founder of SOLA (School of Leadership, Afghanistan) for Afghan girls; Hillary Blout, laminitis and executive head of For nan People, which helps group get released from prison; Manu Chopra, CEO of Karya, which brings AI advancements to low-income communities; Mara Fleishman, CEO of Chef Ann Foundation, which brings made-from-scratch meals to schools; Aisha Nyandoro, CEO of Springboard to Opportunities, which supports residents surviving successful federally subsidized affordable housing; Tom Osborn, laminitis and CEO of Shamiri Institute, which brings intelligence wellness attraction to underserved regions, starting pinch Africa; Ai-jen Poo, executive head of Caring Across Generations, which centers attraction arsenic a nationalist priority; Mónica Ramírez, laminitis and president of Justice for Migrant Women, which supports migrant and agrarian women’s rights; Krutika Ravishankar, co-founder and executive head of Farmers for Forests, which protects and restores forests crossed India; Utkarsh Saxena, executive head of Adalat AI, which develops AI devices for nan tribunal system.

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Associated Press sum of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support done nan AP’s collaboration pinch The Conversation US, pinch backing from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For each of AP’s philanthropy coverage, sojourn https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.