In February, Dr. Alvin Thomas and Dr. Dipesh Navsaria became the latest Madisonians to win Anthem Awards, bringing UW-Madison’s total Anthem Award count up to five!
Launched by The Webby Awards (hailed as “the internet’s highest honor”), the Anthem Awards honors the purpose and mission-driven work of people, companies, and organizations worldwide. By amplifying the voices that spark global change, the Anthem Awards “define a new benchmark for impactful work that inspires others to take action in their own communities.”
Dr. Alvin Thomas won a silver Anthem Award for his Black Fatherhood Podcast, which aims to break the myth of the absent Black father that permeates our media. “Fatherhood is community changing and generation saving. It must be elevated - which is why I started this podcast and why I am grateful to the Anthem Awards for this honor, which helps spread the word about our shared admission to a broader audience,” Dr. Thomas said.
Dr. Dipesh Navsaria won a bronze Anthem Award, on top of 2023’s silver Anthem Award for the “Reach Out and Read” podcast. As a pediatrician, Dr. Navsaria prescribes sharing books together for every young family with children. Reach Out and Read’s goal is to “give young children a foundation for success by incorporating books into pediatric care and encouraging families to read aloud together.” Speaking about his award, Dr. Navsaria said “Thank you, Anthem Awards, for acknowledging the crucial role reading plays in early childhood development. The research is clear: children’s books build better brains, better family relationships, and happier, healthier children and societies.”
In 2022, at the inaugural Anthem Awards, LIFT Wisconsin won two silvers for LegalTuneUp.org - a free DIY legal web app that helps Wisconsinites clear civil legal barriers, including driver’s license restoration, removing eviction records, changing child support orders, reducing consumer debt, and removing criminal records.
Erica Nelson, LIFT Wisconsin’s Executive Director, said “Congratulations to Dr. Thomas and Dr. Navsaria for their well-deserved recognition. Winning an Anthem Award is humbling, exciting, and worthy of acclaim, and it speaks volumes about our community that UW-Madison has so many Anthem Award winners to its name. Madison may be a small city but we’ve got big goals to positively impact our state and country.”
