The Aging Out Podcast Wins Two Anthem Awards!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Johanna Greeson / Sarah Wasch
Phone: 215-573-9779
Email: jgreeson@sp2.upenn.edu / swasch@sp2.upenn.edu
The Field Center’s Aging Out Podcast Wins Two Silver Anthem Awards in Human & Civil Rights
PHILADELPHIA, PA, November 5, 2026: The Field Center for Children’s Policy, Practice & Research at the University of Pennsylvania announced today that The Aging Out Podcast has won two Silver Awards in the Human & Civil Rights cause area of The 6th Annual Anthem Awards:
- Silver Anthem Award, Podcast Show, Human & Civil Rights (Content & Media, Nonprofit): Official Winner Gallery Listing
- Silver Anthem Award, Child Welfare, Human & Civil Rights (Industry Specific Program, Nonprofit): Official Winner Gallery Listing
The Podcast Show category honors an ongoing podcast that drives awareness and action around a Human & Civil Rights cause, with evidence of listenership, growth, and impact.
The Child Welfare category honors programs, initiatives, and work that advance child welfare within the broader Human & Civil Rights space, with evidence of measurable reach and impact.
The Anthem Awards, launched by The Webby Awards, recognize brands, nonprofits, and individuals advancing social impact worldwide. This year’s competition drew more than 2,500 entries from 43 countries. Winners are selected by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, with a judging panel this season that included Nancy Brown, CEO, American Heart Association; Fatima Graves, President & CEO, National Women’s Law Center; Justina Nixon-Saintil, Vice President & Global Chief Impact Officer, IBM; and others. All 2026 winners are listed in the Anthem Winners Gallery.
The Aging Out Podcast is a monthly series of in-depth conversations with advocates, policy experts, and social service professionals working in child welfare, with a focus on older youth and the transition to adulthood. The Field Center took over the podcast from the Aging Out Institute in May 2025, building on the five years of interviews its founder, Lynn Tonini, had recorded. Since then, the Field Center has released 18 episodes. Each episode is hosted by a Penn graduate student completing an internship at the Center, who interviews a professional working with young adults leaving foster care. Recent guests include Tera Hilliard of Forgotten Children, Inc. in Los Angeles and Greg Rapport of Age Out Angels in Trenton, New Jersey.
“Every year, thousands of young people leave foster care at 18 or 21 without a family to fall back on. The people who show up for them are doing work most of the public never hears about,” said Johanna K.P. Greeson, PhD, MSS, MLSP, Associate Professor at Penn’s School of Social Policy & Practice and Managing Faculty Director of the Field Center. “These awards belong to our guests, who gave us their time and candor, and to our student hosts, who learned to ask good questions and then listen. We are grateful to the Anthem judges for recognizing that this is a human rights conversation.”
The podcast is produced by Field Center staff, with Sarah Wasch, MSW, Associate Director of the Field Center, serving as supervising producer. It is supported by a grant from the University of Pennsylvania’s Trustees’ Council of Penn Women. Episodes are free on all major streaming platforms and at fieldcenteratpenn.org.
The Field Center thanks everyone who voted for the podcast during the Anthem Community Voice campaign in October.
ABOUT THE FIELD CENTER FOR CHILDREN’S POLICY, PRACTICE & RESEARCH
Based at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Social Policy & Practice, the Field Center envisions a world where children are loved and nurtured, and families have access to the resources they need to thrive. Its work spans research, policy, and practice in child welfare, with particular attention to older youth in foster care and their transition to adulthood. Learn more at fieldcenteratpenn.org.
ABOUT THE ANTHEM AWARDS
Launched in 2021 by The Webby Awards, The Anthem Awards recognizes impactful brands, nonprofits, and individuals that are setting the standard for good worldwide. The Anthem Awards honors work across seven core causes: Belonging & Inclusion; Education, Art & Culture; Health; Human & Civil Rights; Humanitarian Action & Services; Sustainability, Environment & Climate; and Technology. This season’s partners and sponsors include NationBuilder, Sustainable Brands, NationSwell, The Bloom, the Social Innovation Summit and The Nonprofit Alliance. The Awards were founded in partnership with the Ad Council, Born This Way Foundation, Feeding America, GLAAD, Mozilla, NAACP, NRDC, WWF, and XQ.
LISTEN
The Aging Out Podcast: fieldcenteratpenn.org (Podcast) | Podbean, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other major platforms
###
