ISAW PhD Candidates Lylaah Bhalerao and Braden Cordivari Receive AIA Public Engagement Awards

ISAW congratulates PhD candidates Lylaah Bhalerao and Braden Cordivari, who have been named Bronze winners of the Archaeological Institute of America Public Engagement Award. 

Established in 2025, the Public Engagement Award recognizes outreach and partnerships benefiting K-12 classrooms, senior centers, community organizations, museum visitors, library patrons and other diverse groups of learners. For the inaugural cycle, eligible projects included public engagement completed between September 2024 and August 2025, with award categories based on volunteer hours of outreach work performed.

Lylaah facilitates ISAW’s community college outreach program, where she also served as a longstanding mentor. She supports outreach planning and programming for participating classes, and she has also led K-12 workshops and worked as a docent for ISAW Exhibitions, providing general and educational tours.

Braden is one of the coordinators for the K-12 teacher training section of Expanding the Ancient World (ETAW). He works with workshop leaders to develop program content and activities, and supports program logistics. Braden also volunteers as a mentor in the ETAW community college outreach program, selecting objects from the Metropolitan Museum of Art that align with course themes, and guiding student discussion.

ISAW is proud to see Lylaah and Braden recognized alongside fellow awardees across the profession, and we congratulate them on this well deserved honor.

To learn more about the Archaeological Institute of America Public Engagement Award, including this year’s awardees, visit the award page for the official announcement.