Press & Articles

2023 Excellence in Equity Awards Industry Winners Announced

47 outstanding companies, products, and leaders have been recognized with the top honors in 25 competitive award categories

WASHINGTON, DC — December 15, 2023 — The American Consortium for Equity in Education has announced the winners of the 2023 Excellence in Equity Awards for Industry. Out of 124 nominees in the 25 Industry categories, 47 were judged as exemplary and declared as winners. 

Equity Award

“It’s been a thrill to see the growing interest in our awards program — which I believe indicates the growing commitment companies are making to innovative equity initiatives — and I congratulate all our winners for work that was truly exemplary this year,” said Ross Romano, strategic advisor to the Consortium and program chair of the Excellence in Equity Awards. “The daily efforts of companies such as our winners — and truly, all nominees — and their collaboration with schools make it possible for educators and students to achieve excellent outcomes.”

THE WINNERS ARE:

Company of the Year

  • GoGuardian
  • Mastery Portfolio
  • Proximity Learning

Nonprofit or Community Partner of the Year

  • Reading Is Fundamental
  • Sky is the Limit

Leader of the Year

  • Patrick Riccards – Founder & CEO, Driving Force Institute for Public Engagement
  • Dionna Smith – Chief Diversity and Public Affairs Officer, GoGuardian
  • Sarah Thomas – Founder & CEO, EduMatch

New Product of the Year

  • Effective Brain-Based Literacy Instruction by Learning Ally
  • High Dosage Tutoring by The Princeton Review | Tutor.com

Author, Speaker, or Consultant of the Year

  • Michael Conner – Founder & CEO, Agile Evolutionary Group
  • Mandy Froehlich – COO, EduMatch
  • Molly Ness – VP of Academic Content, Learning Ally
  • Terrie Noland – VP of Educator Initiatives, Learning Ally

Product Enhancement of the Year

  • ClassLink DataGuard
  • CogAT in the Classroom

Best Accessibility Solution

  • Attention! (Boxlight)
  • ReadSpeaker

Best Book for Educators

  • Embrace, Empower, Educate, and Include by Salandra Grice (EduMatch Publishing)
  • Fix Injustice, Not Kids and Other Principles for Transformative Equity Leadership by Paul Gorski and Katy Swalwell (ASCD)
  • Moving Beyond for Multilingual Learners: Innovative Supports for Linguistically Diverse Students by Carly Spina  (EduMatch Publishing)

Best Career Readiness Solution

  • Cirkled In

Best College Readiness Solution

  • Cirkled In

Best Differentiation or Personalized Learning Solution

  • MindPrint Learning

Best Diversity and Inclusion Solution

  • Giant Steps
  • Represent (Benchmark Education)

Best Early Childhood Education Solution

  • Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS), 2nd Edition (Teachstone)
  • Excite Reading™ by Learning Ally

Best Hardware Solution

  • Labdisc All-in-One Science Lab

Best Literacy Solution

  • 95 Percent Group/One95™ Literacy Ecosystem
  • Benchmark Advance

Best Online and Blended Learning Solution

  • enCORE K-12 (TeachTown)
  • Gale In Context: For Educators
  • Suite360 for Students (Navigate360)

Best Parent Engagement Solution

  • Reading Is Fundamental – Middle School Family Literacy Initiative
  • Suite360 for Families (Navigate360)

Best Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) Solution

  • Aperture Education’s DESSA
  • MindPrint Learning

Best Special Education Solution

  • enCORE K-12 (TeachTown)

Best STEM Solution

  • Futurelab+ from Genentech and Discovery Education
  • ST Math

Best Student Engagement Solution

  • Yondr

Best Student Safety Solution

  • GoGuardian Beacon

Best Support for English Learners/ELLs

  • Express! Asset-Based Access to English by Benchmark Education

Best Teacher Recruitment Solution

  • Swing Education

Special Contribution to Equity

  • Lightspeed Digital Insight – Digital Equity Module
  • Scott Andrews, Manager of Product and Design, TouchMath

Each of these winners will receive a variety of benefits, including a badge to display on official materials; the opportunity to be featured on EduTalk Radio, the Consortium’s flagship podcast; a spotlight feature in the January special issue of the Access & Equity PreK-12 Journal dedicated to award winners; and an invitation to write for the online journal.

Every nominee, finalist, and winner of the Excellence in Equity Awards has made invaluable contributions to improving opportunity and outcomes for students. Learn more about the winners at https://www.ace-ed.org/awards.

The Excellence in Equity Awards continues to accept nominations in the award categories for educators. The finalists and winners in the educator awards program will be announced in the spring. Visit https://www.ace-ed.org/awards or contact awards@ace-ed.org to learn more.

About the Excellence in Equity Awards

The annual Excellence in Equity Awards program recognizes the companies, nonprofits, leaders, and educators whose work contributes to the critical goal of ensuring access and equity for every learner. Learn more at www.ace-ed.org/awards.