San Diego – August 18, 2021ICIARA’s “SELF-Ex: An Interactive Guide to Address Adversity Responsibly” received a Top Award from the USC Edge Center as a transformative educational solution with a high impact on school communities. 
“In response to the COVID-19 challenges facing students the USC Center EDGE, Andrew Nikou Foundation, and IDEO formed The Education (Re)Open challenge, aimed to develop the Education Solutions Exchange, a public repository of high-quality, accessible solutions to help schools navigate the obstacles they face returning this fall. The Education Solutions Exchange is an exciting outgrowth of what we learned early in the pandemic—that creative, relevant and relatively simple solutions can bring a quantifiable voice to those on the front lines of education, and can have impact in timely, effective and efficient ways,” says Alan Arkatov, director and founder of Center EDGE. 
This past March, OpenIDEO announced a challenge to the global community:  “How might we strengthen school communities, as sites reopen, by highlighting solutions that reconnect people and enhance collective wellbeing, teaching, and learning?” 
The organization assessed 259 solutions from 34 countries, which were evaluated by 32 judges based on their “relevance, evidence, or potential for impact and equity.” The programs needed to align with three main themes: communities reconnecting, collaboration, and collective health and wellbeing.   
“We are humbled to receive this incredible award. We are so excited to integrate SELF-Ex training and curriculum into the school communities. The SELF-Ex interactive framework intends to equip children with powerful tools to make value-based decisions and resolve adversity confidently. Through these tools, students learn to speak up assertively and act responsibly to address discomfort, bullying, and prevent abusive behaviors. The framework guides children to confront adversity, uncertainty, and vulnerability in order to develop a strong sense of identity, responsibility, and grit.” says founder Lea Wolf. 
The ICIARA Team offers the programs as a full curriculum or a one-day interactive workshop titled Be Your Own Advocate. The SELF-Ex framework is fully integrated into the program and includes diverse practical and personalized activities. 
To learn more about ICIARA and award winning educational programs and training, click here
Refer to links below to learn more about the award process, participants, and solutions:
The Award announcement, process, people, and criteria  
About SELF-Ex: 
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