Company: Planting People Growing Justice Leadership Institute
Company Description: OUR MISSION IS TO PLANT SEEDS OF SOCIAL CHANGE THROUGH EDUCATION, TRAINING, AND COMMUNITY OUTREACH. Inspiring and equipping future leaders through the arts, humanities, and education
Nomination Category: Individual Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Female Executive of the Year – Government or Non-Profit –10 or Less Employees
 Nomination Title: Dr. Artika R. Tyner
- Which will you submit for your nomination in this category, a video of up to five (5) minutes, explaining the achievements since July 1, 2021 of the nominated woman, OR written answers to the questions? (Choose one):
Written answers to the questions
- If you are submitting a video of up to five (5) minutes in length, provide the URL of the video here, OR attach it to your entry via the "Add Attachments, Videos, or Links to This Entry" link above, through which you may also upload a copy of your video. If you are submitting written answers to the questions for this category, provide them in the spaces below:
- Briefly describe the nominated individual: history and past performance (up to 200 words):
Total 198 words used.
Dr. Artika Tyner’s dynamic leadership, literacy initiatives, and community presence have connected the community with its cultural roots, promoted community building, and uplifted the lives of future leaders. Her history and past performance as a civil rights attorney, passionate educator, sought-after speaker, and author of over 30 books, provide unique inroads to these contributions.
She founded a nonprofit to disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline with a literacy initiative based on promoting diversity in books. She also created a social enterprise that works seamlessly alongside the nonprofit to create and publish diverse children’s books. It’s published over 41 Minnesota Black authors and was recognized in The Social Enterprise Impact Showcase 2020, in the Get Down to Business Accelerator 2022, and with a 2022 Enhancement Grant Award from the Coalition to Back Black Businesses. Her nonprofit has donated over 19,000 diverse books, inspired over 6,000 young readers, and received the Inaugural Anthem Award for excellence and innovation in bringing people together around education, art, and culture.
Her past performance resulted in being named Attorney of the Year 2022 for outstanding service, Spectrum Circle Awardee 2023 for innovation in social impact, and one of Entreprenista’s 100 for the biggest impact.
- Outline the nominee's achievements since July 1 2021 that you wish to bring to the judges' attention (up to 250 words):
Total 248 words used.
Dr. Artika Tyner has escalated her efforts in response to both the pandemic’s disproportionate effects on children of color and the decline of state and national test scores. Ways in which she’s done this include expanding her nationally recognized literacy programming from classrooms to community spaces to integrate families and youth organizations and evolving the curriculum to address the rising needs of the community. Examples include:
- She hosted family events and published children’s books to meet the increasing need for financial and STEM literacy. In furtherance of these efforts, she’s built strategic partnerships with U.S. Bank, the Science Museum of Minnesota, and 3M.
- She successfully led numerous writing projects which empowered over 30 Minnesota’s Black youth to use their voice to create social change and become published writers. Their published books “Jaheem’s First Kwanzaa,” “Aya: An Anthology of Racial Justice, Healing and the Black Experience,” “We Are the Dreams of our Ancestors,” and “Juneteenth” serve as tools to promote racial equity and leadership and the authors now serve as reading ambassadors in their community.
- She co-founded a first-of-its-kind library located within an early childhood center to offer early learners and their families a rich learning environment with over 100 diverse children’s books and parenting resources that are available 365 days a year. She’s spearheading efforts to replicate the model across the United States.
- She ensured accessibility to both virtual and in-person writing workshops, author read-alouds and parenting tips to empower and engage the community.
- Reference any attachments of supporting materials throughout this nomination and how they provide evidence of the claims you have made in this nomination (up to 250 words):
Total 107 words used.
Evidence supporting the ways Dr. Artika Tyner is positively impacting social change and inspiring and equipping future leaders:
Education reform:
Diversity in books
Criminal Justice reform
R.A.W. Library:
Youth Writers:
Community Events:
Resource accessibility:
- Explain why the achievements you have highlighted are unique or significant. If possible compare the achievements to the performance of other players in your industry and/or to the nominee's past performance (up to 250 words):
Total 250 words used.
Her achievements are significant when considering the following:
●LITERACY GAP
With 57 percent of white third-graders proficient in reading, and only 32 percent of Black third-graders proficient in reading, Minnesota has the nation’s widest gap in reading scores between white and nonwhite students.
●SCHOOL-PRISON PIPELINE
Students who are not proficient in reading are 4x more likely to drop out of school and dropouts are 3.5x more likely to be arrested during their lifetime. 85% of children in the juvenile justice system are not literate. There’s a direct connection between reading failure and future incarceration according to the Department of Justice
●LACK OF REPRESENTATION IN LITERARY ARTS
Diversity in books allows readers to see themselves represented and to imagine new possibilities for themselves, yet only 11.9% of children’s books have a Black main character. Of those 11.9% of books less than half are written by Black authors.
- LACK OF ACCESS TO RESOURCES
61% of low-income families and 80% of the preschool and afterschool services that support them have no books for their children
What makes her achievements unique is her integration of leadership. She encourages leadership development in all ages to address the challenges faced both individually and within the community. It’s based on the model she developed after decades of research into national and global social movements and profiles of Black leaders which recognizes that ordinary people can have an extraordinary impact on their community. Using the arts, humanities, and literacy, she’s inspiring and equipping future leaders.
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