Charlottesville, Va., July 16, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Greenwald Family Foundation, in conjunction with the Nudge4 Solutions Lab at the University of Virginia, is launching the inaugural Evergreen National Education Prize, a $125,000 annual prize to identify and help scale innovative programs that help low-income youth access and complete college or vocational degrees. Only 14 percent of low income youth graduate college versus 60 percent of their higher income peers, illustrating the clear need for programs that increase educational and economic opportunity for low-income youth.
In addition to providing $125,000 to support the winning program’s growth, the Evergreen Prize will provide ongoing PR and marketing support to promote their program and enable the winner to find additional financial support. The Prize winner will also gain access to experienced education technology and business leaders to support the organization to scale its program.
“High-quality programs are instrumental in helping low-income youth succeed in college and the workplace,” said Jerry Greenwald, chairman of the Evergreen Prize and co-founder and Partner of Greenbriar Equity. “By shining a spotlight on a proven, scalable program that can help young people achieve success, we hope to make a difference in the lives of more 18-25 year old students.”
Applications will be reviewed by the Evergreen Prize Judge Committee, comprised of 10 leaders from across the education and business sectors. Members of the committee include:
- John Deasy, Superintendent, Stockton Unified School District
- Dr. John B. King Jr., President and CEO of Ed Trust and former U.S. Secretary of Education
- Saskia Levy-Thompson, Program Director, New Designs to Advance Learning, Carnegie Corporation
- Jamie Lockwood, K-12 Education Partners Manager, Facebook Education
- Bridget Terry Long, Dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education
- Todd Penner, Portfolio Director, College Success, Dell Foundation
- Dan Porterfield, President of the Aspen Institute
- Barry Salzberg, former global CEO of Deloitte Touche
- Jon Schnur, Chairman and CEO, America Achieves
- Carina Wong, Senior Advisor for Innovation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
“We are proud to have an incredibly experienced, diverse, and enthusiastic team of judges to select the Evergreen Prize winner,” said Ben Castleman, managing director of the Evergreen Prize and associate professor of education and public policy at the University of Virginia. “By bringing these leaders together to support the Evergreen Prize, we will help elevate the importance of cost-effective initiatives that produce meaningful results and assure educational and economic success for all youth.”
The Evergreen Prize is open to all U.S.-based government and nonprofit organizations that can demonstrate evidence of their success and a cost-effective path to achieving those results. Applicants must also provide a plan for scaling the number of low-income youth they reach -- and be willing to share their program model with other relevant organizations.
Interested organizations may apply through an online application that can be completed in 30 minutes, via the Evergreen Prize website, through August 31.
The three Evergreen Prize finalists will then present their organization’s program and their plans for scale at the Evergreen Prize Awards Dinner in New York City on October 15, 2018. The Evergreen Prize Judge Committee will announce the winner at the conclusion of the dinner.
Additional details about the Evergreen Prize and the Judge Committee can be found at www.evergreenprize.org.