2021
AWARDS

Brenda Myers Powell

2021 Lifetime Achievement Award

Brenda Myers Powell has been advocating for youth victims of human trafficking since 1997. Myers–Powell, a human trafficking survivor is the co-founder of The Dreamcatcher Foundation, a nonprofit which aims to fight human trafficking in the Chicago area. 

Chicago has been designated as 1 of 13 locations of “High Intensity Child Prostitution.” Nationally, half of all victims of human trafficking are under 18, and most are girls and women. Myers-Powell was a product of human trafficking at the age of 14 where she escaped an abusive home life and learned to navigate the streets of Chicago. Today, Myers-Powell educates on the perils of human trafficking and provides perspective for women and girls to reach new levels of accomplishments for their future.

Berto Aguayo

2021 Elevating Youth Voices Award

A lifelong Back of the Yards resident and a product of an immigrant family, Berto is a fierce voice against gun violence and a champion for immigrant rights. He’d always heard that to “make it” meant to “make it out of the hood.” To Berto, that didn’t sit right. He wanted to help bring his neighborhood the peace and resources its residents deserved. 

A former gang member, Berto Aguayo is now the co-founder and Executive Director of #IncreaseThePeace (#ITP), an organization that develops young leaders and promotes peace through community organizing and policy advocacy. Since its founding in 2016, #ITP reopened a community center, trained over 300 youth leaders in community organizing, organized dozens of actions to increase the peace, and has expanded its work to include violence prevention, youth development, food access, mutual aid, and multicultural unity.
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The Elevating Youth Voices Awards is accompanied by a $5,000 honorarium to support Berto’s professional development.

Meade Palidofsky

2021 Bright Promises Foundation Visionary Award

Meade Palidofsky is an award-winning director, playwright, and lyricist who founded Storycatchers Theatre in 1984 and developed its trauma-informed creative youth development methodology. She created Storycatchers' signature program model for youth in the juvenile justice system, developing and implementing year-round residential and post-release programs that engage these marginalized young people through a trauma lens. Under her leadership, these programs empower justice-involved youth and prepare them to navigate court involvement and reentry successfully. 

For over 37 years, she has worked tirelessly to guide some of the most vulnerable young people in Illinois to realize their potential, and to envision and pursue productive futures. She has changed institutional cultures in secure facilities by engaging staff as stakeholders in the success of incarcerated teens. She has collaborated with aftercare to create a post-release employment model to help youth develop capacity for successful lives after prison. She has created critical partnerships within the justice system and throughout the community to establish a network of support. In May 2021, Palidofsky announced her plan to retire from Storycatchers.

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