CASEL Awards

Ann S. Nerad Awards for Distinguished Contributions to Advance Policies for Social and Emotional Learning

On November 6, 2018, the people of Wisconsin voted Tony Evers (pronounced ee-vers, rhymes with teachers) the 46th governor of Wisconsin. Four years later, on November 8, 2022, Wisconsinites re-elected Tony Evers as governor.

Prior to his election in 2018, Governor Evers served as the Wisconsin State Superintendent of Public Instruction, winning statewide elections in 2009, 2013, and 2017.

With over three decades of public education experience, Governor Evers has spent most of his life fighting for Wisconsin’s kids. He began his career in education first as a science teacher in Baraboo before going on to serve families, students, and communities across the state, including in Tomah, Oakfield, Verona, and Oshkosh.

As governor, Governor Evers has continued his work championing public education at every level and advocating for investing in the state’s public education system, believing, as he often says, that doing “what’s best for our kids is what’s best for our state.”

Governor Evers and the Evers administration have accomplished a great deal since taking office in 2019. From historic investments in education to supporting farmers and small businesses, signing one of the largest tax cuts in state history, advocating for access to clean and safe drinking water, reducing stigma for mental and behavioral health, expanding access to affordable healthcare, housing, and child care, and preparing our state for the 21st Century by expanding high-speed, affordable internet and fixing our roads and infrastructure, Governor Evers leads by always trying to do the right thing for Wisconsin. ​

Born and raised in Plymouth, Wisconsin, Governor Evers graduated from Plymouth High School and earned his bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in educational administration from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is married to his high school sweetheart, Kathy, also a former educator. Governor Evers and Kathy are parents of three adult children, all public school graduates, and have nine grandchildren.

Juan Carlos Ocon is the principal of Benito Juarez Community Academy, A CPS high school in the Pilsen community. On July 1st, he started his 17th year as principal of Benito Juarez Community Academy, 20th year in administration and 28th year in CPS. He is also in his second year at the University of Illinois at Chicago as a PHD student in Educational Policy. Juan Carlos draws inspiration from his lived experiences as a Latino leader and as an undocumented student in elementary, high school and college to give shape to his core values and principles. These values and principles are the cornerstone of his work for the last 28 years. In 2010, to address the diverse needs of the students at Juarez, the entire school was transitioned from a traditional curriculum to a standards-based curriculum. Standards-based grading improved student outcomes and mindsets. Standards-based grading, however, was not enough. In 2016, Juarez began the transition to Competency-based education as a way to address the academic and social-emotional needs of students. Competency Based Education has transformed a high school into a campus and a campus into a home; a home that now values creativity, community, and collaboration; a home that creates authentic, vibrant, and vital learning opportunities in which all thrive. The result is that Juarez is a center of community and is a thriving neighborhood high school and a school of choice for families in Pilsen and in the surrounding communities.

Patricia (Tish) Jennings is a Professor at the School of Education and Human Development at the University of Virginia (UVA). Her research emphasizes teacher stress and its impact on the social and emotional context of the classroom, as articulated in her highly cited theoretical article, “The Prosocial Classroom.” Jennings developed CARE, a mindfulness-based professional development program that improves teacher wellbeing, classroom interactions, and student engagement recommended by the CDC for promoting wellbeing in schools. She is currently the Principal Investigator of two large studies of CARE funded by the US Department of Education. Jennings is a co-author of the Flourish curriculum designated as a promising program by CASEL. She is also the co-Principal Investigator on the trial to evaluate the curriculum’s efficacy. A member of the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Fostering Healthy Mental, Emotional, and Behavioral Development among Children and Youth, Jennings received the 2023 UVA Distinguished Researcher Award and the 2018 Cathy Kerr Award for Courageous and Compassionate Science from the Mind & Life Institute. Mindful Magazine recognized her as one of “Ten Mindfulness Researchers You Should Know.” Earlier in her career, Jennings spent more than 22 years as a teacher, school director, and teacher educator. She has authored numerous peer-reviewed journal articles and chapters, as well as several books.

Dr. Jason Okonofua earned his Bachelors degree in Psychology from Northwestern University and his PhD in Psychology from Stanford University. He is now a professor at Brown University. His research focuses on processes by which racial stereotypes can shape outcomes of high-stakes relationships and on scalable means to mitigate those effects in various institutions and organizations. He applies his research in real-world settings such as K-12 schools, jails, workplaces, and hospitals.

Jason’s research program examines social-psychological processes that contribute to inequity. One context in which he has examined these processes is that of teacher-student relationships and race disparities in disciplinary action. His research emphasizes the on-going interplay between psychological/mindset processes that originate among teachers (how stereotyping can influence discipline) and students (how apprehension to bias can incite misbehavior) to examine causes for disproportionate discipline according to race. The intersection of these processes, Jason hypothesizes, undermines teacher-student relationships over time, contributes to disproportionate discipline to racially stigmatized students, and ultimately feeds the “school-to-prison” pipeline. By investigating basic processes that contribute to misinterpreted and misguided disrespect among teachers and students, he aims to develop novel interventions that empower teachers to reach their teaching goals and interventions that help students – especially racially stigmatized youth – succeed in school and reduce their risk of discipline problems. For example, he conducted a large scale randomized controlled trial that showed a scalable virtual program reduced racial disparities in yearlong suspensions by 45% for a sample of ~6,000 students across 20 cities. This program has been recommended by the United States Department of Education as a top way to mitigate discipline problems to school districts throughout the country.

He also designs and tests large-scale psychological interventions for school administrators, jails, prisons, and court departments (e.g., probation offices, parole offices). One of his latest interventions significantly cut suspension rates for a sample of 13,210 students across 17. Another one of his latest interventions significantly cut recidivism rates for a sample of ~20,000 adults on probation and parole. Both large-scale interventions targeted the mindsets of the people in positions of power (i.e., teachers and officers) to sideline bias with a more functional focus on empathy to shift the way the interacted with the individuals under their supervision, namely the ones from racially stigmatized groups.

His research has been published in top journals, including Science Advances, Psychological Science, and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. His intervention work has received international recognition with awards such as the annual Cialdini Award for applied research from the Society of Personality and Social Psychology’s international conference. The work has been recognized and recommended by the US Department of Education and funded by such organizations and foundations as Google, Tides Foundation, Character Lab, and the Bureau for Justice Statistics. And the findings have been featured on a variety of popular media outlets, including National Public Radio, New York Times, MSNBC, Reuters, Huffington Post, Daily Mail, Wall Street Journal, and Education Week. Find out more at: okonofua.org

National PTA is a network of families, students, educators and community leaders devoted to the success of children through family engagement. With nearly 18,000 local units in the U.S. and abroad, our millions of members are committed to making every child’s potential a reality.

National PTA has played a crucial role in raising awareness and building bipartisan support for SEL as an essential part of high-quality public education for all students. During the pandemic, National PTA led on the need to support students’ academic, social, emotional, and mental health needs, integrating SEL into its standards and resources. A member of our Leading with SEL coalition, they continue to bring attention to both the lingering effects of COVID, and the importance of not politicizing SEL and family engagement.

National Parents Union leads the charge for the needs of families and children to be heard in policy and politics. With more than 1600 partner organizations in all 50 states, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico, NPU has placed parents in the halls of power where decisions are made.

National Parents Union has been a fearless advocate for social and emotional learning – from the halls of Congress to the state house. A partner in the Leading with SEL Coalition, National Parents Union has raised their voices and made SEL part of their national agenda to support student wellness and create supportive schools.National Parents Union has also been a vocal leader in sharing data on parent support, and the importance of strengthening investments in public education.
NPU has also played an integral role in influencing legislation, establishing the Center for Policy and Action to help families demand more from systems and leaders, and centering policy discussions around the parent voice. They have achieved several significant policy wins at the federal and state levels, focusing on various aspects of education, including literacy, teacher qualifications, charter equity, and social-emotional learning. In addition, they have released several policy papers that have helped to shape conversations at all levels of policymaking.

Cordelia is a second grader and lives in Concord, New Hampshire with her parents and little brother. She goes to Abbot-Downing School, where she has been lucky enough to take SEL classes. She enjoys theater, swimming, and playing with her friends, cousins, and grandparents.

In 2024, Cordelia used her powerful voice as a lever for school improvement. Speaking in front of her state legislature, Cordelia shared why SEL was critically important for students like her. Her testimony helped stop her state from moving forward a proposed ban on SEL programming, On a visit to Capitol Hill during SEL Week, Cordelia also educated federal policy makers on the importance of SEL in schools and classrooms.

Cordelia (2024)

National PTA (2024), National Parents Union (2024)

• Early Career Recipients: Dr. Sara Rimm-Kaufman (2007), Dr. Marc Brackett (2009), Dr. Celene Domitrovich (2011), Dr. Angela Lee Duckworth (2012), Dr. Stephanie Jones (2013), Dr. David Yeager (2015) Dr. Camille A. Farrington (2018), Dr. Anne Gregory (2018), Dr. Clark McKown (2020), Dr. Tia Barnes (2021), Dr. Christina Cipriano (2022), Dr. Julia Mahfouz (2023), Dr. Jason Okonofua (2024)
• Distinguished Scholar Recipients: Dr. Maurice Elias (2011), Dr. Edward Zigler (2011), Dr. J. David Hawkins (2012), Dr. Joseph Durlak (2013), Dr. Kimberly Schonert-Reichl (2015), Dr. David Osher (2018), and Dr. Laura Hamilton (2020), Dr. Edmund Gordon (2021), Dr. Karen Bierman (2022), Dr. Susanne Denham (2023), Dr. Patricia Jennings (2024)

• District or School Leaders: Carol Comeau (2012), Jillian Ahrens (2013), Linda DePriest (2013), Koua Jacklyn Franz (2013), Ed Graff (2013), Sherrie Raven (2013), Trish Shaffer (2013), Kristina Tank-Crestetto(2013), Karen VanAusdal (2013), and Michelle Van Allen (2018), Sheldon Berman (2020), Byron Sanders (2020), Eric Moore (2021), Dr. Eric Schaps (2022), Dr. Rose Prejean-Harris (2022),  Eric Gordon (2023), Dr. Kamilah Drummond-Forrester (2023), Juan Carlos Ocon (2024)
• Federal or State Policymaking: Congresswoman Judy Biggert (2011), Congressman Dale Kildee (2011), Congressman Tim Ryan (2012), Ellen Moir (2015), Dr. James Comer (2015), Joan Duffell (2018), Tom Roderick (2018), R. Keeth Matheny (2021), Dr. Teri (Brown) Lawler (2022)

Dr. Linda Darling-Hammond (2021), Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (2021), Gene Wilhoit (2022), Congressman Dick Durban (2023), Congresswoman Susan Collins (2023),Governor Tony Evers (2024)