Every year, the Alliance partners with dedicated individuals, foundations, and corporations to offer creative scholarship opportunities to teen artists and writers whose experiences and ideas help shape the communities around them. Winners of these awards are listed below.
Best-in-Grade Award
Supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Best-in-Grade Award recognizes 24 works at the national level (two art and two writing per grade, grades 7–12) with $500 scholarships.
Grade 7
Alex Gao, San Diego, CA
Rachel Lee, Suwanee, GA
Daniel Yang, Little Neck, NY
Melody Zhao, Lakeville, CT
Grade 8
Dina Kanyshcheva, Mountain View, CA
DaSean Perkins, Jackson, MS
Olivia Wang, Potomac, MD
Allison Zhang, San Diego, CA
Grade 9
Tia Jackson, Fort Wayne ,IN
Yunha Ko, San Jose, CA
Wendy Li, Bogart, GA
Kaelyn Yu, Fremont, CA
Grade 10
Kaitlyn Bai, Kirkland, WA
Qianqian Di, Southborough, MA
Yuna Ko, Walnut Creek, CA
Rhea Sreedhar, Santa Ana, CA
Grade 11
Aubrea Caldwell, Jackson, MS
Mara Gaskin, Mequon, WI
Serena Huber, New York, NY
Noe Ise, Nashville, TN
Grade 12
Goeun Choi, Irvine, CA
Jane Liou, Mountain View, CA
Hari Yoganathan, Manlius, NY
Allison Zhang, Pasadena, CA
The Flaunt It Award
The Flaunt It Award, developed in collaboration with Don’t Hide It, Flaunt It and supported by Don’t Hide It, Flaunt It (DHIFI), RBC Foundation USA, and Morgan Stanley, recognizes teens who look or feel different from their peers and share their personal story about what makes them unique. The Flaunt It Award includes two $2,000 scholarships for teens and a $500 cash award for their educators.
Sean Chen, Hillsborough, NJ
Shreya Poladia, Austin, TX
The Herblock Award for Editorial Cartoon
The Herblock Award for Editorial Cartoon, supported by The Herb Block Foundation, celebrates the legacy of four-time Pulitzer Prize–winning political cartoonist Herb Block. This award provides three students who exhibit excellence in editorial cartoons with $2,000 scholarships and their educators with $500 cash awards.
Annabelle Peng, Richmond, TX
Amy Shan, Davis, CA
Tim Wang, Duluth, GA
New York Life Award
The New York Life Award, supported by the New York Life Foundation, provides ten students whose works explore death and personal grief with $2,500 scholarships and their educators with $500 cash awards.
Art
Isabelle Bye, Wauwatosa, WI
Minjun Sean Choi, Newtonville, MA
Jessica Yunlan Lee, East Providence, RI
Annie Wu, Mercersburg, PA
Lillian Zhou, Hudson, MA
Writing
Alexandra Brand, Los Angeles, CA
Megan Juld, Tampa, FL
Sahara Stewart, Bryn Mawr, PA
Ella Upadhyay, Brookline, MA
Yuechen (Cylina) Wang, Windsor, CT
Featured image: Annie Wu, Cancer Garden, Sculpture. Grade 11, Mercersburg Academy, Mercersburg, PA. Educator unavailable; Region-at-Large, Affiliate. Gold Medal, New York Life Award