2020 Iris Award Nominations

I've grown accustomed to starting my day with shitty news, so to start by thinking about the incredible honor of being nominated for industry awards is pretty great. I love writing about all manner of lighter lifestyle stuff, but to be recognized for digging in to the harder stuff, well, it means a lot.

First, the post I wrote in partnership with the CDC/American Academy of Pediatrics about ACEs (nominated for Best Sponsored Content) is one of the most meaningful blog posts I have written in my 14 years on the Internet. The learning journey with CDC/AAP resulted in me fully realizing how my childhood trauma was mitigated by the unconditional love and support of educators + one of my employees. As in, were it not for these human beings, I would have tanked instead of thrived in life, and to be able to thank these people through this post...well, FEELINGS.

Second, like many people I received NOTHING in the way of sex ed and it led to some seriously bad decision making as a young adult. So the work I have done interviewing educators, youth and adult advocates, and authors via AMAZE Live! (nominated for Livestream of the Year) has given me the gift of working to move the needle to ensure that families are breaking through the stigma to talk about sex ed.

Congratulations to all the nominees!