Newtown, CT – November 9, 2024 – Choose Love for Corrections has been named the winner of a Gold Stevie™ Award in the Organization of the Year Non-Profit category in the 21st annual Stevie Awards for Women in Business.
The Stevie Awards for Women in Business honor the achievements of women executives, entrepreneurs, employees, and the companies they run– worldwide. The Stevie Award has been hailed as the world’s premier business award. More than 1,500 entries from organizations and individuals in 36 nations and territories were submitted this year for consideration in more than 100 categories.
The Choose Love Movement launched Choose Love for Corrections™ was launched by the New Hampshire Department of Corrections (NHDOC) at the State Prison for Men in August, 2022, as well as the Transitional Housing Units. This program has brought great success and motivation into the facilities, and there is currently a 150 man waitlist inside the men’s facility. The program was also launched in Florida’s Miami North Corrections Community Release Center in 2024.
Choose Love™ partnered with CAST to redesign the Choose Love activities, discussions, and assessments to account for variability of the learning environments and learners within the NHDOC, and created a 14-week program where participants are taught how to respond to any situation with kindness by using the Choose Love Formula™.
Choose Love for Corrections was specifically designed with the incarcerated population in mind. The Corrections Choose Love Program incorporates the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework to ensure the material is accessible in a prison environment. The Corrections Choose Love Program includes daily engagement activities implemented during group sessions that reinforce and support social and emotional learning skills. Choose Love mission is to improve residents’ relationships with each other, their families, and communities to better prepare them for reentry. Participants learn growth mindset and how their body reacts to different situations, how to apologize, how to forgive. Learning these skills is extremely important.
Choose Love for Corrections was launched by the New Hampshire Department of Corrections (NHDOC) at the State Prison for Men in August, 2022, and has expanded to include NH Correctional Facility for Women and NH Transitional Housing. The program was also launched in Florida’s Miami North Corrections Community Release Center in 2024.
The Choose Love Movement and CAST are currently seeking partners to expand on the initial findings and success of the program, bringing it to other sites and states. For more information, please Shannon Desilites contact at Shannon.M.Desilites @jesselewischooselove.org.
Maggie Miller, president of the Stevie Awards, said, “In its 21st year, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business received an outstanding body of nominations. We are gratified by how meaningful it is to women to win a Stevie Award, and how impactful it can be on the futures of their careers and their organizations. We congratulate all of this year’s Grand, Gold, Silver, and Bronze Stevie Award winners for their achievements.”
Details about the Stevie Awards for Women in Business and the list of winners in all categories are available at www.StevieAwards.com/Women.
About Choose Love Movement
Jesse Lewis, a six-year-old first grader, was a victim of the Sandy Hook tragedy whose action saved the lives of nine classmates. Jesse left behind a message on a household chalkboard, “Nurturing Healing Love,” that became the inspiration for his mother, Scarlett, to found the Jesse Lewis Choose Love Movement.
The Jesse Lewis Choose Love Movement is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization with a commitment to reach students, educators and individuals, nationally and internationally, and provide them with a simple, yet profound formula for choosing love. Choose Love programs are free and teach essential life skills to children and adults. It has grown organically, one person at a time over the last ten years, and now reaches 10 million children and adults in over all 50 states and 140 countries.
For more information, please visit www.ChooseLoveMovement.org.
Contact:
Jan Wilmot
Director of Marketing & PR
Jan @ jesselewischooselove.org
About the Stevie® Awards
Stevie Awards are conferred in nine programs: the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, the German Stevie Awards, the Middle East & North Africa Stevie Awards, The American Business Awards®, The International Business Awards®, the Stevie Awards for Great Employers, the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service, the Stevie Awards for Technology Excellence, and the Stevie Awards for Women in Business. Stevie Awards competitions receive more than 12,000 entries each year from organizations in more than 70 nations and territories. Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide. Learn more about the Stevie Awards at http://www.StevieAwards.com.
HCLTech sponsored the Women in Technology categories in the 2024 competition.
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