Winners and Finalists: Local Letters for Global Change 2023

Every year, the Local Letters for Global Change contest asks students: What global issues are affecting you and your community, and what change do you want to see in the world?

We congratulate the sixteen contest winners and finalists whose work is published below on their lucid descriptions of how diverse global issues impact them on a local and personal level, and the compelling solutions they present. These varied letters illuminate how AI surveillance technology impacts students’ freedom of expression, connect food insecurity to local histories of systemic racism, and emphasize the global consequences of oil pollution. Students call on their elected representatives to take action, and provide creative solutions that demonstrate research, empathy, and an understanding of the systemic issues underlying everyday problems.

The winning entries were selected from nearly 800 entries written by students in fifteen countries, 26 U.S. states, and the District of Columbia—our most geographically diverse entry pool to date. We are grateful to every student who took part in the Local Letters process: engaging deeply with global issues through news stories, exploring the relevance of those issues to their lives, and taking informed action. We invite you to explore the letters below to learn more about students’ visions for a better world, and to take inspiration from their calls to action.

Letters were judged by the Pulitzer Center team based on content and structure according to the criteria in the Local Letters for Global Change judging rubric. The views expressed in these letters do not necessarily represent the views of the Pulitzer Center, its staff, or contest judges.

Thank you to our semifinal and final round judges: Elliott Adams, Hannah Berk, Alexandra Byrne, Maryel Cardenas, Kendra Grissom, Jessica Mims, Fareed Mostoufi, S. Jaya Mukherjee, and Mark Schulte.