Announcing the winners of the 2023 Aglet Awards!
April 7, 2023
Choosing between the nominees for the 2023 Aglet Award was nearly the definition of impossible.
Incredibly, more than half of all of the 43 nominees showed up in at least one of the ten judges’ top five selections. As one judge put it, "I blacked out trying to make a decision." There were simply too many outstanding nominees to choose from and it was heartening, healing, and inspiring to read every submission.
Aglet Awards are for someone you know who provided critical support, leadership, insight, capacity, creativity, morale, or anything else that comes to mind, to help an important cause. When you nominate someone for an Aglet Award, they will be alerted that they have been nominated by someone who appreciates their work. There is nothing to lose and only good vibes to send. Learn more about the Aglet Awards here and start planning your nominations for spring 2024.
The 2023 AGLET AWARD WINNERS
Each name is listed alongside an abbreviated summary of why they were nominated and a select quote from their nominator. They will each be contacted soon to receive their $100 cash prize.
As one can imagine, voting was extremely close. Ten nominees who received High Honorable Mentions are listed below as well. Every High Honorable Mention Awardee was one of the ten judge’s top number one pick out of all 43 nominees, or appeared in multiple judges’ top five selections.
And truly–and in the only way that matters– every person who someone took the time to nominate for this award is already a winner.
Cynthia Murray
Helped found United for Respect a decade ago and continues to demonstrate commitment and leadership by serving on the organizational board of directors.
“In the aftermath of the mass shooting at a Chesapeake, VA, Walmart store, where the shooter was a Walmart associate, Cyndi was angry and scared, so she decided to file a resolution asking Walmart to conduct a review of its policies and protocols regarding workplace violence and to improve protections for workers. She has already secured co-signers and is hopeful this effort will help bring needed change.”
Tosha Wilson
Creating, fostering, promoting, and fighting for equity and equality in her community.
“Tosha Wilson is the definition of a community member who is fighting for a better place for the present and future of her community. She is an Evanston police officer who grew up in the community and... is a founding member of the Aux, a community space being built in Evanston that will transform a part of the city that has historically been overlooked and underfunded…....This past summer she ran a summer basketball camp for girls in Evanston…She along with two other coaches ran the whole program for free all summer long in Evanston. She is a star!"
Tiffany McSwine
Building deeper partnerships and connections with BIPOC businesses and nonprofits to connect more job opportunities to underserved communities
“Tiffany has worked with folks experiencing homelessness and domestic violence. She's also worked to build deeper partnerships and connections with BIPOC businesses and nonprofits to connect more job opportunities to under-served communities.... Tiffany's genuine and caring energy expanded beyond her role. Despite being laid off recently, she's remained…to help other folks navigate their layoffs...Despite receiving limited help from the company that laid her off, her kindness and capacity continues to extend to others.”
Julie Leftwich
Started a non profit helping immigrants and refugees with free legal help
“I admire the amount of work that this very small organization has accomplished. Julie has literally impacted over 750 clients in 5 years helping them stay in the USA through a variety of legal actions. Each of these families are incredibly grateful and full of love for her. It's overwhelming the amount of need and she takes as many cases as she possibly can...This very small organization has helped people from 78 countries, directly impacted 903 children and helped hundreds with naturalization and citizenship to the USA.”
Danielle Elizalde
President of Pajaro Valley Pride working to uplift the lives of Hispanic/LatinX/Latine members of the Watsonville, CA community and surrounding area
"What I admire is that they've been working on this since they were in high school - over a decade ago - they are so positive, determined and creative in how they reach out and build relationships within the Watsonville community, a predominantly working class, farming community. Danielle is so positive, creative, and warm hearted - considering all the negativity put towards the queer community in the air these days they still maintain such a positive and upbeat attitude. Always, always looking for the silver lining - taking gold from a dirty place kind of person.”
2023 AGLET AWARDS HIGH HONORABLE MENTIONS
Every “High Honorable Mention” awardee was one of the ten judge’s top number one pick out of all 43 nominees, or appeared in multiple judge’s top five selections.
Illyana Bocanegra
Transgender Advocacy
“Illyana's advocacy work has been particularly impactful in the area of design and media. They have been a leading voice in efforts to improve National Center For Transgender Equality's (NCTE) brand, design, and accessibility of media for a transgender audience. They were organizing closely with women, transgender, and nonbinary people in Austin, Texas for years before venturing into design work. Their efforts have helped to make numerous community initiatives stand out and be taken seriously.”
Joe Cardillo
Regularly and actively volunteers their time to support job seekers
“Joe has volunteered their time to co-host webinars for job seekers, collaborated with Black Remote She to create a free email course for Black LGBTQ+ and allied job seekers, and compiled a consistent list of resources and paid opportunities for creatives and creative business owners through their platform Coffee + Creatives.”
LeVar Eady
Ensuring Black farmers and entrepreneurs can benefit from the legal cannabis system
“Levar works to ensure that Black farmers and entrepreneurs- especially those impacted by the war on drugs- can benefit from the legal cannabis system. He has struggled to get funding, investment, etc but just keeps going. He is teaching others how to cultivate even as he tries to get his own farm off the ground. His vision is to pay it forward to other Black farmers and entrepreneurs.”
Kristen Greenwood
Young female empowerment
“Ms. Kristen is the executive director for GirlSpring, a non-profit whose mission is to provide access to reliable information, inspiring events, and positive role models so girls and (ages 9-18) are empowered to reach their full potential... GirlSpring has made such a difference in many young girls lives and it's given all of them a platform to lead and become the people they are today.”
Dustin Gibson
Community Care Clinic for Disabled and Chronically Ill
“Dustin Gibson knew from the moment we entered the pandemic that disabled people had experiences critical for our collective survival, but also knew that disabled folks would be the most impacted and least supported. He conceptualized and created an intergenerational, multiracial, cross-class disabled online space that remains a robust organizing and leadership development space…Dustin believes to the core of his being that people deserve worth, dignity and that no one should be thrown away. Dustin creates spaces for people to move into leadership, in all he does. He brings people along and together in creating a vibrant and necessary disability justice movement.”
Matt & Christy Lyons
Greyhound Rescue
“What inspired me to nominate them, is that they really go above and beyond what others would do. They took in Smokey, the elderly dog of their good friend Liz who died young from Breast Cancer and cared for Smokey for years until he crossed the rainbow bridge. Must recently, they took in Pa, a young greyhound who became paralyzed due to a freak accident. Caring for Pa required learning how to use and empty a catheter 2x a day, and taking him to multiple medical appointments in hopes of him regaining some mobility. This is all done in addition to their full time jobs, and their other familial responsibilities. They are both good, kind people, who love animals and make the world a better place.”
Monique “Muffie” Mousseau
Uplifting 2SLGBTIQ+ rights & recognition within the Indigenous community.
“Launched the first Native American PowWow in Sioux Falls, SD; instrumental in getting the Oglala Sioux Tribe to pass anti-hate legislation and recognition of Two Spirit (2S) identity.”
Sha Ongelungel
The intersections of climate justice, bodily autonomy, Indigenous rights, demilitarization, and decolonization.
“She’s someone who will show up when called and will put herself on the line to protect survivors and make sure their stories get told. She has a wildly diverse skill set that, I think, she doesn’t even seem fully aware of sometimes. She pushes to make sure her community is visible without centering herself and makes people feel seen and heard. She takes on fights when she knows that she’s going to get all the pushback personally and brushes it off like it was crumbs.”
Charlotte Yeung
Educating women and girls in Afghanistan, Arts activism, and nuclear nonproliferation
“She founded and taught a semester-long course on poetry for women and girls in Afghanistan. She used to tutor Afghan refugees. She also performs poems about war and climate change as the 2022 Indy Youth Poet Laureate. She went to Hiroshima last November and spoke with hibakusha (survivors of the atomic bomb in World War II) and discussed nuclear politics with the governor and mayor of Hiroshima. This is impressive because she is just a sophomore in college. I hope she knows that she is doing incredible things and that I and many others like me hope for her to continue helping others using creative approaches like the arts.”
Lourdes Zuniga
Working to build financial equity in Central Texas
“Lourdes operates Financial Health Pathways, a nonprofit in Austin, Texas. She works tirelessly advocating in political and economic spaces for more resources, financial education, and greater accessibility of financial wellness within the community. She has developed innovative programs to provide direct services to the community, and ensures that classes are available in both English and Spanish for the populations that FHP serves. “
A huge thank you to every judge, nominator, nominee, and anyone and everyone who spread the word about this effort. The Aglet Awards exist to uplift and show appreciation for all the great work happening– big and small, at all levels, and on so many fronts–in our communities.