Pulitzer Center Update September 18, 2025
Students Invited To Inspire Global Change in Pulitzer Center Letter Contest
Students are invited to make their voices heard this election season by writing a letter to a decisionmaker that explains the global issue they want to see prioritized. Deadline: November 14, 2025.
Letter-Writing Contest Invites Student-Suggested Solutions to Global Issues
“Dear Governor: Many immigrants in the United States are not aware of the opportunities and rights provided to them in New Jersey.”
Dylan Cortegana, a high school student in New Jersey, wrote this as part of his entry in the 2023 Local Letters for Global Change Contest, in which he placed as a finalist. Cortegana’s letter was inspired by "Dreams Derailed," a Pulitzer Center-supported story published by The Chronicle of Higher Education that details the setbacks undocumented students face in states that deny them access to their public colleges and universities. Cortegana asked his governor to do additional outreach to help raise awareness of the access and financial aid available to undocumented students in New Jersey.
Cortegana wrote his letter two years ago, and this year a Trump administration executive order threatened action against states that offer in-state tuition for undocumented students, among other perceived sanctuary policies.
Without a path to action, it’s easy to feel powerless against an onslaught of difficult news. We need voices like Cortegana’s urgently, and we need educational environments that foster this kind of empathy and critical thinking.
The Local Letters writing contest provides one path to action. Students engage with Pulitzer Center-supported journalism to learn more about systemic issues facing their communities. They then develop solutions and, through their letters, share them with local decision-makers and the wider world. The contest is part of the Pulitzer Center’s larger effort to connect audiences with quality journalism and help them respond meaningfully to the systemic issues they encounter.
The Pulitzer Center is now accepting entries to the 2025 contest through November 14. It is open to primary and secondary school students worldwide. Winners’ classes will receive cash prizes to support global and civic engagement. In addition, winners' letters will be published on the Pulitzer Center website. The contest portal provides complete guidelines, example letters by past contest winners, and resources to support educators and students with letter writing.
The contest, and the educators who facilitate the project, encourages students to engage deeply with the news at a time when journalistic independence and funding is on shaky ground; develop targeted local solutions when threats at the federal level can feel overwhelming; and harness the power of their voices for social good. We hope you’ll share the opportunity with the young people and the educators in your life.
With care,
Impact
A Poisoned Community—a series by StoryReach U.S. Fellow Jasmine Aguilera and journalist Cassandra Garibay for El Tímpano—has won the Breaking Barriers Award and the Knight Award for Public Service at the 2025 Online Journalism Awards.
The series exposes millions of dollars in unspent lead abatement funds while Oakland, California’s Black and Latino children face disproportionately higher rates of lead poisoning.
Judges noted, “Through bilingual workshops, door-to-door outreach, and SMS campaigns, the team ensured vital information reached the most vulnerable. Their work prompted immediate government action and public accountability.
Read more about the reporting project here.
Photo of the Week
"Overall, the impact of this work on me has been deeply moving and frankly, frightening, with the gravity of the climate crisis, with the sheer reach of its consequences leaving no aspect of society untouched — with untold lives ruined, communities upended, and hospitals, places of succour, turned into battlefields. As a canary in the coal mine, Iraq holds crucial lessons that must not be ignored."
— Susan Schulman
This message first appeared in the September 19, 2025, edition of the Pulitzer Center's weekly newsletter. Subscribe today.
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