Award Details

Sommer Klag Advocacy Impact Awards

Winner Announcement

2025 Sommer Klag Advocacy Impact Awards

On November 12, 2025, the Sommer Klag Advocacy Impact Awards Lightning Pitch Competition took place in the Bloomberg School of Public Health. Congratulations to the winners: Harry Barbee, PhD, who shared their ideas for, "From Evidence to Action: Building a Future for LGBTQ+ Health," and Mariana Socal, MD, PhD, who shared her ideas on “Protecting the US Pharmaceutical Supply through Data and Evidence."

Thank you to every finalist, judge, and attendee for being a part of this special advocacy-focused event!

2025 Sommer Klag Advocacy Impact Awards Lightning Pitch Competition

Watch the recording of this exciting event, featuring lightning pitches from the Bloomberg School faculty finalists and special remarks from Dean Emeritus Al Sommer, Lerner Center director, Shelley Hearne, and inaugural Sommer Klag Advocacy Impact Award winners, Nadia Akseer and Cass Crifasi. 

FAQ

What are the Advocacy Impact Awards?
WHOWHATHOW
2 faculty members
(Primary appointment in BSPH; excludes faculty with instructor, adjunct, or visiting appointments)		$40,000 Impact Award, used to directly support future advocacy work

The award winners will demonstrate:

  • Potential for impact in their area of expertise
  • Potential for a shift in policy or social norms
  • Fundamental advocacy knowledge, skills, and organizational relationships that could enhance their success
  • What they hope to accomplish with additional resources and support
What is the timeline?
Summer-Fall 2027Open nominations for $40k Advocacy Impact Awards. From the nominations, a screening team will select finalists who will go onto give short pitch presentations to the BSPH community.
Fall 2027Finalists will be notified and provided with pitch presentation guidelines.
Fall 2027Livestream of pitch presentations for Advocacy Impact Awards. Winners of the Impact Awards are announced.
Submissions for the $40k Advocacy Impact Awards

Nomination Form Questions

  • Name, department, faculty rank, and email address
  • Please describe how you work meets the following criteria (each response no more than 500 words) :
    • The Issue - Provide some context. What is the need, origin, and window of opportunity for the work?
    • The Opportunity - What’s needed to help advance a policy change? What makes your work ripe for progress and success?
    • Laying the Groundwork - What has been your contribution to this area of public health advocacy? How have you been laying the groundwork for progress? (e.g., building relationships and partnerships, translational research, policy proposals, media advocacy, etc.) These are just examples, please include unique actions that apply to your work.
    • Action Plan - Include three advocacy actions that you plan to take if you are a recipient of an Advocacy Impact Award (e.g., relationships and partnerships, translational research, policy proposals, media advocacy, etc.) These are just examples, please include unique actions that apply to your work.
    • The Impact - What does success look like? How will you measure success?
  • CV
  • Optional supporting documents (publications, articles, videos, etc.; max 2 documents)
What if I have more questions?

Please email Diane Coraggio (diane.coraggio@jhu.edu) if you have specific questions about the awards process.