Key Takeaways
- The awards spotlight educators and advocates driving social change in their communities.
- Honorees champion diversity, equity, and inclusion, and educational equity across the U.S.
For their exemplary work as advocates in and outside of their communities, nine extraordinary individuals and organizations received NEA’s highest and most prestigious awards, the Human and Civil Rights (HRC) Awards, on July 2, at the Oregon Convention Center, in Portland, Ore.
The theme of the 58th annual award dinner was “Building a Legacy for Collective Freedom: A Celebration of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion,” a timely acknowledgement of the current administration’s rollback on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, and more importantly, a nod to the efforts of this year’s recipients.
This year’s honorees build on a long legacy of civil rights leadership that began decades ago. In 1966, the NEA and the American Teachers Association (ATA), a union for Black teachers at segregated schools in the south, merged into one organization. To carry on with the ATA tradition of honoring leaders of the civil rights movement, the NEA continued to sponsor the HRC awards ceremonies, holding the first award dinner of the merged Association in 1967.
Let’s meet this year’s winners!
Mentoring young Black men through identity and purpose
Ohio educator and NEA member Leshon “Ship” Collins has spent the last two decades mentoring young African American men, helping them to reach their full potential and connect pride in their identity to academic achievement.
Collins, who is a health and physical education instructor at Orange High School, in Pepper Pike, Ohio, founded an after-school mentorship program called the Male Minority Leadership Group. The program offers a safe space for young Black men to bond over their commonalities and embrace their differences. His goal is to inspire students to take control of their destiny.
As a board member of the Cleveland Rape Crisis Center, he leads the White Ribbon Campaign, which aims to end violence against women.
For his exemplary work as an advocate inside—and outside—his community, he is one of nine extraordinary individuals and organizations that received a Human and Civil Rights (HCR) Award, NEA’s most prestigious honor.
Breaking glass ceilings
Marissa Winmill is one of the nation’s most influential figures in advancing academic opportunities for young women.
She is an NEA member as well as a board member for the Washington Professional Educator Standards Board, where she advocates for and supports efforts to diversify the educator workforce.
While teaching at Washington’s Kent-Meridian High School, Winmill started a
Girls Who Code club, giving female students access to the tools needed to succeed in STEM fields.
Winmill’s goal is to nurture greatness in young women and to ensure that teenage girls are never denied access to opportunities that will help them reach their full potential.
Creating change across communities
The following NEA allies and partners also received HCR awards for leading with courage, creativity, and commitment to advancing social and racial justice:
Imara Jones is an Emmy and Peabody Award-winning journalist and the founder of TransLash Media, a nonprofit media organization working to combat anti-trans hostility through storytelling and journalism. She is a prominent voice on gender, race, and policy. Recognized by the Time as one of the 100 Most Influential People in 2023, she hosts the award-winning TransLash Podcast and the investigative series The Anti-Trans Hate Machine.
Maude Dahme, a Holocaust survivor and educator, is committed to teaching young people to stand up for what they believe in. As a Jewish child in Holland during WWII, her education was disrupted when Nazis occupied her country and ordered her family into a concentration camp. Dahme and her siblings were intercepted by humanitarian aid workers and taken to safe houses. But they were separated from their parents, who hid in the attic of a friend’s car dealership until the war ended. Fortunately, the family was reunited three years later.
In 1950, Dahme immigrated to New Jersey, where she started a career in education. For 20 years, Dahme sat on the New Jersey Board of Education, including serving 5 years as president. In this leadership role, she implemented a Holocaust education curriculum in the state’s public schools.
Dahme spends her summers at teacher seminars and visiting the sites of former concentration camps around the world, gaining experiences and knowledge to share with her students.
Marta Silva is a heritage language instructor at Olathe North High School in Kansas. She created the district’s heritage language program—an initiative that levels the playing field for Hispanic students. By promoting translation and interpretation skills along with career training, she empowers Latino students to pursue higher education and overcome barriers.
Elise Carter is one of only a few African American educators in her school district, in Fort Thomas, Ky., and is committed to providing students with rich, honest, and accurate African American history.
Carter created an innovative social equity course and stood firm against community members who disagreed with her teachings.
After years of persistence, she ensured that Black history and principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion remained part of her district’s curriculum.
Jesús Valle is a tenured professor of Native American studies at American River College, in Sacramento, Calif.
He established the school’s Native Resource Center for Indigenous youth, and he helps strengthen Native communities by advocating for inclusivity, pride, and dignity.
Showing Up for Racial Justice Kansas City (SURJ KC) is an organization that consists of White educators in the Kansas City metro area—in both Kansas and Missouri—who are committed to examining the impact of racism and White supremacy in public schools.
SURJ KC also hosts public forums and panel discussions led by diverse speakers.
Their work exemplifies the true allyship needed to dismantle harmful systems and ideologies.
The Mississippi Minority Farmers Alliance of North Mississippi, founded by a small group of Black farmers, supports marginalized farmers and works to bring equity to the world of agriculture.
Ke Kula ‘O Nāwahīokalani‘ōpu’u Iki Lab Public Charter School (pronounced: keh KOO-la oh nah-VAH-hee-oh-kah-LAH-nee-oh-POO-oo EE-kee) is a Hawaiian-language immersion public charter school where educators help Asian American and Pacific Islander youth to embrace their culture by keeping the Hawaiian language alive. The school rejects assimilation and instead celebrates students’ Hawaiian identities.
