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“Hope is a muscle. Resilience is a learned behavior.” 

This was one of the many powerful lessons given at the Hillary Clinton Awards in Georgetown University (this one from Secretary Clinton herself!), which the Elevate Prize Foundation was proudly a part of this year.  

The HRC Awards is an annual ceremony put together by the Georgetown Institute of Women, Peace and Security that honors trailblazing women whose work is making the world more peaceful and stable.  This year, they honored Palestinian and Israeli partner organizations Women of the Sun and Women Wage Peace for their work to build a peaceful resolution. 

For the first time in the history of this ceremony, in addition to the award, both organizations received $25,000 in unrestricted funds as part of our Elevate Prize GET LOUD initiative.

“Tired of wars and tired of death, we decided to create a partnership —without pointing fingers or blaming each other and speaking in a loud voice — saying that Palestinian mothers and Israeli mothers refuse to have their children killed,” said Reem Hajajreh, founder of Women of The Sun, when accepting the award. 

Together, the two organizations work hand-in-hand, even creating the “Mothers Call“, in 2019, calling for an end to the cycle of bloodshed and ultimately for peace.

“We can see in history that when women from both sides come together, good things can happen and sustainable peace can ensue,” said Angela Scharf, Women Wage Peace’s foreign relations coordinator, when accepting the award. 

As our CEO Carolina Garcia Jayaram said on stage, “It would be nearly impossible to find two change agents as brave and worthy of visibility and support as Women of the Sun and Women Wage Peace.”

Welcome to the Elevate family, Women of the Sun and Women Wage Peace! We’re honored to have you.

Growing up within the vibrant Deaf community of the Bay Area, California, I was immersed in a culture rich with leadership, activism, and creativity. As a third-generation Deaf individual and a mother to a Deaf 12-year-old, I am deeply committed to ensuring that future generations receive the access and opportunities necessary for their flourishing.

Despite the resilience and dynamism of our community, we face significant challenges. This is a direct result of institutional and systemic audism that has harmed us for generations, from language deprivation to the many barriers that exist within education.  Globally, many Deaf children lack adequate access to language during critical developmental stages. Over 90% of Deaf Children are born to hearing parents, often unfamiliar with Deaf culture and the importance of sign language. Consequently, these families are frequently led to believe that lip-reading or the use of hearing aids will suffice for communication. However, these approaches do not facilitate true language acquisition; Deaf children require access to sign language from birth to support their cognitive and social development.

The statistics are striking: The majority of hearing families do not learn sign language, only 10% of deaf children learn ASL, and a staggering 98% of Deaf children do not receive an education in sign language. Language deprivation has severe and lasting consequences for cognitive and emotional wellbeing.

This is a human rights crisis. 

Without language, we are dehumanized. This is what is happening to Deaf babies, total dehumanization of them. 

Together at Motion Light Lab with our community partners, we are actively working to raise awareness and establish the infrastructure necessary for sign language access, spanning from early childhood education to lifelong learning. September is Deaf Awareness Month, and on September 23, we celebrate the International Day of Sign Languages, with this year focusing on the theme “sign up for sign language rights.”

 

To celebrate this moment, I’ve written some facts (and dispelled some myths) about the Deaf community:

• Diversity of Sign Languages:  There are over 300 documented sign languages worldwide, each unique to its cultural context, similar to spoken languages. Currently, 76 countries recognize sign language as an official language. The legal recognition of sign languages is a crucial stepping point to ensuring access for Deaf people.

•  Popularity of American Sign Language: American Sign Language (ASL) is the third most taught language in U.S. colleges and universities, reflecting a growing recognition of its significance. Along with scores of new ASL learners, this is an opportunity for allyship with the Deaf community to support the dismantling of systemic audism and ableism.

• Critical Role of Early Acquisition: Extensive research demonstrates that early sign language acquisition (ages 0-3) is crucial for cognitive development, facilitating literacy and academic success. The absence of such access can lead to profound language deprivation with detrimental lifelong effects.

• Contributions to Technology: Deaf people are behind many of humankind’s technological advancements. The telephone was invented by the inventor Alexander Graham Bell who was trying to amplify sound for his Deaf wife Mabel Hubbard, and his Deaf mother, Eliza Grace Symonds Bell. Captioning and video calls like FaceTime, Zoom, and Skype were developed to meet the needs of Deaf people for accessible communication. In 1964, Robert Weitbrecht, a Deaf scientist, developed the TTY (Teletypewriter), a device that enabled Deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals to communicate via telephone using text.

• Understanding Audism: Audism refers to the oppression of individuals based on the belief in the superiority of hearing. Systemic audism manifests as exclusionary practices that marginalize Deaf individuals within societal frameworks.

• Historical Context of Advocacy: The National Association of the Deaf, founded in 1880, is the oldest continuous civil rights organization in the United States, illustrating the Deaf community’s long-standing commitment to advocacy and social justice.

By fostering awareness and advocating for sign language access as a human right, we can work collaboratively towards a future where every Deaf child is empowered to thrive.

  

In 2015, Cindy Eggleton asked a young mom what she felt she needed to support her family. The mom went on to explain that to get any sort of social or educational services, she had to race around the city going from program to program— something that was impossible, as she worked full-time and didn’t have access to a car. 

She looked at Cindy and said simply, “I can’t do it.” 

At that moment, Cindy knew she needed to work with communities to create programs that came to these families—not the other way around. This solidified the beginning of Brilliant Detroit, a 2023 Elevate Prize winner, which is now expanding to become Brilliant Cities. 

After learning about Brilliant Detroit’s unique and successful community-first model, civic leaders, families and partner organizations met with Cindy to learn how they could adopt this program for their own cities, and as a result, Brilliant Cities is expanding into Philadelphia, Cleveland and Chicago by 2027!  On top of this, an additional 31 cities and seven countries are on a waiting list to become a future Brilliant City. 

“We can’t wait to bring our work across the country to ensure that every child has the love, support, and resources necessary to thrive and be ready for school and for life,”

Cindy told us. 

Established in 2016, Brilliant Cities created what they coined “kid success neighborhoods,” where they convert underutilized housing stock to create centers where entire families with children ages 0-8 have access to what they need to be school ready, healthy, and stable.

To date, Brilliant Cities has served more than 22,000 children and caregivers in Detroit, where more than half of children under five years old live in poverty.  A recent evaluation found that these programs have helped kids in kindergarten through third grade improve by an average of three reading levels, and families have also reported a significant increase in physical activity, healthy eating, neighborhood support, and social connections.

Brilliant Cities’ work and growth is an affirmation of the power of community to decide for themselves what they want and need. At Elevate, we’re proud to be a part of this journey.  Congratulations, Cindy and Brilliant Cities! 

Get to know the expanded work of Brilliant Cities at: https://brilliantcities.org