2025 Local Letters for Global Change Contest – Nov 14

Posted by Pulitzer Center on August 26, 2025

Ready for another contest opportunity that connects your students to global issues? The 2025 Local Letters for Global Change contest is now open!

This contest is available to K-12 students worldwide who want to problem-solve some of the world’s most pressing issues and use their voices for social good.

Citing reporting from Pulitzer Center-supported journalists, students will write a letter to a local elected representative to emphasize the importance of their chosen issue and propose solutions to address it. Through this contest, students can not only practice their civic action and persuasive writing, but their letters could inspire real-world impact. This year, we’re providing a revised and expanded graphic organizer that offers additional scaffolding for using a news story as a starting point for taking informed action.

Letters can be written in English and/or Spanish and should address an important topic from one of the Pulitzer Center’s five focus areas:

• Climate and Environment
• Global Health
• Peace and Conflict
• Human Rights
• Information & Artificial Intelligence

Winners and finalists will receive cash prizes to support global community engagement in their classroom (distributed to their class teacher). The judging panel will select one first-place winner and up to four finalists for each issue category, who will have their letters, photos, and bios published on the Pulitzer Center website.

As we begin the 2025-26 school year, we are so excited to host this contest once again and hear from students worldwide as they inspire action on the issues covered in Pulitzer Center reporting.

Explore contest guidelines and resources below and mark your classroom calendars: All letters are due Friday, November 14, 2025.

Learn more.