In honor of the retirement of Annetta L. Cheek, PhD, Board Chair and co-founder of the Center for Plain Language, an American flag is flying over the U.S. Capitol today. The Center’s website lists the following among her accomplishments:
- Worked with U.S. House of Representative Bruce Braley (D-IA) to pass the Plain Writing Act of 2010, which was signed into law by President Obama.
- Developed the annual Plain Writing Act Report Card measuring federal agency compliance with the Plain Writing Act. Since the report card gets a lot of media attention, agencies are motivated to get good grades.
- Established the ClearMark Awards to recognize good writing and the WonderMark Awards to call out bad writing.
Here’s Annetta giving a presentation to an international group in 2011 about the Plain Writing Act of 2010.
Thank you, Annetta, for all you have done to promote effective written communication in the workplace! Your legacy will live on.