The ILA, which sets literacy instruction and evaluation standards across 86 countries, honors 30 individuals each year who are devoted to improving children's literacy, all of whom are under age 30.
Niad was honored by the ILA for her literacy development work on FFK. The project is nourishing more than 83,000 children daily in Mozambique, as well as implementing a groundbreaking mother-tongue early grade reading program. As part of the reading component, Niad coauthored student workbooks in two local languages for first through third grade classes, along with developing decodable texts, read-alouds, teachers' guides, and other materials.
"I'm honored to receive this award, but in truth, the recognition goes to the entire FFK project team, who have worked closely together with Cambridge Education since the very beginning," said Niad. "We are realizing promising literacy results for bilingual education because of our fantastic collaboration. It's been an absolute pleasure to serve as part of this team."
Planet Aid launched FFK in Mozambique in 2012. The project is funded by a grant under the U.S Department of Agriculture's McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Program.
Congratulations to Hayley Niad for being recognized for her incredible work.