This week the Atlantic and Allstate announced the winners of the fourth annual Renewal Awards Wednesday at an event in New York City! This annual event recognizes non-profit organizations that are stepping in to play a vital role in building healthy, sustainable, and equitable communities. Five winners from across the country were carefully selected from a pool of over 9,300 hundred candidates and Acta Non Verba was one of them! ANV’s Founder & Executive Director, Kelly Carlisle, and Office Manager & Program Coordinator, Ayano Jeffers-Fabro, travelled to New York City this week to receive one of five Renewal Awards AND the Youth Empowerment Award for 2019! Watch the full video below.
The original prize was $20,000, but as a surprise to the winners, each of the organizations will receive $40,000 over two years to support their work. The winning organizations come from all corners of the country. They are: Adelante Mujeres, Forest Grove, Oregon; The Compton Initiative, Compton, California; New Moms, Chicago; Welcoming the Stranger, Langhorne, Pennsylvania; and Acta Non Verba: Youth Urban Farm Project, Oakland, California, which was the Allstate Youth Empowerment Award winner. Read more about these brilliant awardees.
Kelly and Ayano spent a few days in New York City for the Renewal Awards celebration. The festivities kicked off with a phenomenal dinner at Ai Fiori, a Michelin Star recognized restaurant. There, they met with other awardees, past awardees and the Renewal Project Team — where they were officially inducted into the Renewal family. After the dinner, awardees gathered on the rooftop of the Ink48 Hotel to see one of the best views in NYC — soaking in the brilliance of the lights and bustling activities of the city. At the awards ceremony the next day, Kelly sat on a panel alongside fellow awardees to showcase ANV’s work.