During the collection of the 2010 United States Census Dora the Explorer was part of a public service campaign to encourage everyone in English and Spanish speaking markets to submit their data. Now that television campaign by MTV networks has won 2^nd place in the Excellence in Multi-cultural Marketing Awards (EMMA) for its television campaign. EMMA is an award given by the National Association for Multi-ethnicity in Communications (NAMIC).

“Beyond the Backpack” is a new program that is designed to help preschooler become ready emotionally, socially, and academically for school. “Beyond the Backpack” begins as Dora the Explorer celebrates 10 years of entertaining and educating children. Dora the Explorer and Salma Hayek will be appearing in several public service announcements to promote the “Beyond the Backpack” program.

This summer, backpacks that have been designed by Hayek and other celebrities will be auctioned internationally. So far, the list of celebrity backpack designers include: Salma Hayek, John Leguizamo, Slash and Shakira. All the backpacks will be auctioned across the globe in the United States, France, the UK, Mexico, Canada, Spain, The Netherlands, Greece, Australia, New Zealand and Israel. All the proceeds from the United States’ auction will benefit the Children’s Defense Fund. One hundred percent of international proceeds will go toward childhood education in each respective country.