Palmetto Promise Awarded Heritage Foundation’s Innovation Prize

We are proud to share that Palmetto Promise Institute, along with our partners in North and South Carolina, have been awarded the Heritage Foundation’s 2024 Innovation Prize for our work on the Carolinas Academic Leadership Network (CALN).

CALN aims to empower school board members throughout the Carolinas by honing their leadership skills in governance, professional development, communications, legislative outreach, networking, and policy. We do all this to prioritize academic excellence, student achievement, and educational freedom.

Heritage Foundation president Kevin Roberts praised CALN’s important work:

“School choice is the civil rights issue of the modern era and a rallying opportunity for generations who agree parents, not school boards, should have full control over their kid’s education. It is a privilege to support the work of CALN and its partners, who prioritize children and their futures instead of the interests of Randi Weingarten and her cronies. Every state should lead the charge for educational freedom, and this award will go a long way toward CALN’s efforts to advance school choice the Carolinas.”

President and CEO Wendy Damron attended the award ceremony Monday at the grand opening of Heritage’s new Barb Van Andel-Gaby Center in Washington, D.C, on behalf of Palmetto Promise Institute. “Together, we are changing the landscape of education by supporting, training and empowering school board members who want to put student achievement first,” said Damron. “With Heritage amplifying our efforts, we hope this will inspire similar projects across the country.”

We are so honored to be recognized on this national stage, and we are excited about the work we can continue to do because of the Heritage Foundation’s generosity. Heritage’s news release emphasized that this award will “aid CALN and its partners in providing fellowships, trainings, and support to local school board members in North and South Carolina to empower parents and advance students’ achievements without the one-sided agendas that have corrupted many educational institutions.”

Visit CALN’s website to read more about this award. You can learn more about other Heritage Foundation 2024 Innovation Prize winners here.

Want to see what the Carolinas Academic Leadership Network is all about? Join us June 22, 2024, in Columbia, South Carolina, for our school board candidate and community primer. Learn more and register here!