Supporting Youth Leadership in Building Beloved Community

In 2019, Beloved Community Initiative applied for and recieved a grant from The Episcopal Church for funds to begin an Ethnic Studies Leadership Academy. We envisioned a culturally responsive program for African and African-American girls in 7th through 9th grade where youth would learn about equity from the lens of African American historical figures, cultivate leadership skills and engage in community activism. 

Right as we were beginning to launch ESLA, the pandemic hit, and in-person activities were put on indefinite hold. We met with our partner organization, Sankofa Outreach Connection, a Black women’s empowerment community group, and set out to partner with an existing group, LEAD, at a local high school and find ways to support them during the pandemic, through what has been a time of fear, stress, and uncertainty.  

LEAD (Leaders for Equity, Advocacy, and Diversity) is a group of BIPOC students that seek to create opportunities for students to explore advocacy and leadership, and build skills around diversity, equity, and inclusion. Their main goals are to introduce BIPOC students to leadership resources within our community, empower students to take actions towards positive change in their schools and communities, and inspire students to reimagine their perspective and outlook of the world around them. During a regular school year, the student group would meet once a week in person to check-in, share life experiences, provide support for each other, learn leadership skills, and grow in knowledge about equity, diversity, and inclusion.

In the 2020-2021 school year, all the students of the group (for diverse reasons) chose to participate in the Online Learning Program instead of attending school in-person. During the course of the year, the program director, Carmen Gwenigale continued to meet with the students virtually to engage in the weekly goals. It was in these meetings that she realized that the students were all struggling mentally and emotionally, in a way never imagined. 

Carmen shares:

Almost all of the students shared that the burden of online learning was extremely overwhelming, to the point where they had given up completely on school. Many were failing in their classes and did not have the resources to acquire academic support. All the students were at a very low point emotionally, some even sharing that they had contemplated suicide. At our building (and school district as a whole), there was not a feasible way to provide adequate support for all the students in need. I had no idea how to support the students adequately, and had no clue where to turn for help. And then came a blessing. 

During one of my moments of desperation, in search of advocacy for my students, I reached out to RaQuishia Harrington, a mentor and friend.  She in turn submitted a request on behalf of the group for support. And we were blessed with the grant from Beloved Community Initiative to provide support for our students. With the grant, we were able to provide academic support through community connections and a homework hot-line for online students. We were also able to provide the students with 1:1 and small group Mindfulness coaching with Yasmin Marrero, an Empowerment coach. These coaching sessions were so imperative and essential to the mental health of all the student participants, guiding them through some of their darkest moments and helping them to see their way back into a positive space. The students were highly appreciative of this opportunity, one they had never experienced before. 

With funds from the grant, we were also able to bring color and diversity to the wall of the school, celebrating identity and a sense of belonging. Traditionally, the walls of the school building are white, with no artwork other than the words of the school motto. Since the opening of the school (5 years ago), the students have incessantly requested wall art or wall murals to decorate and liven up the school space. The requests had always been denied due to lack of funding. This year, even though the students were participating in online learning, they wanted to do something to make the learning environment better for everyone, given the pandemic circumstances and burdened stress everyone was experiencing. Through research, the students found the Society6 website that offered a large variety of Peel and Stick Wall Murals. During one of our group meetings, they carefully selected 14 murals that represented the unique and varied identities of all the students at the school. We were able to purchase these murals with funds from the grant and decorate the building walls. This one project impacted the entire school building in such a positive way. As students would walk through the halls, they were so very happy to see the art and the diversity represented. Many commented that they could now feel some sense of belonging at the school just by the inclusive art on the walls. The school administrator tweeted the wall art on his social media which in turn garnered instant interest from other buildings wanting to decorate their walls similarly. 

 Finally, this year, LEAD students had the opportunity to host our first annual Youth Leadership Conference, furthermore, fulfilling LEAD’s purpose of providing and supporting educational, personal, and leadership development for ICCSD youth. This is something the group has always dreamed of doing but did not have the funds to carry it through to fruition. The theme of our first conference was Becoming Agents of Change.  The conference was an all-day conference, held on one of our “no school” days. Students from grades 7-12 were invited to participate free of charge, and were provided with transportation to and from the conference, a conference T-shirt, take-away materials, and breakfast and lunch; all made possible due to the grant funding. The goal of the conference was to provide discussions about college preparation and career exploration; conversations around social and political happenings around diversity, equity, and inclusion; leadership skills to promote advocacy and allyship; communication skills to build community and support teamwork; and adaptable insights and takeaways for youth that are applicable to the goals and challenges they face today. Students participated in sessions led by exciting guest speakers that helped them enhance their understanding of the role they play as leaders for diversity, equity, and advocacy, and gain strategies for becoming more equipped for leadership in their schools and communities. There were 60 students in attendance at this year’s conference whom have now generated so much excitement from the day that we have a larger group of students requesting a chance to participate in yearly events. As part of the conference activity, students were tasked with identifying a DEI concern in their respective schools and creating an action plan on how to address it as a team and with the support of their building leadership team. Within an hour, all school teams were able to develop AMAZING plans to work together and improve the learning environment for students at their schools. 

When asked for feedback comments about the event, some students shared: 

●      I loved it and had a good time!

●      I like how it’s solution focused.

●      I liked the breakout groups that were small in size

●      I loved the sessions and activities. Just coming into the district gave me an opportunity to tune in and actually voice my opinion. 

●      It was really great, would not have minded if it was a little longer so that we could do 3 breakout sessions instead of 2.

●      I absolutely loved this event and I think it’s crucial to creating better school environments for minorities.

When asked what their biggest “take-away” was from the event, students shared the following: 

●      Listening to the speakers talk and group discussion

●      Leadership is important and how we need to be inclusive

●      Community building and brainstorming solutions.

●      What other schools are currently facing regarding racism.

●      To not have personal biases and include others who might be very different from yourself

●      Never be scared to use my voice and make a difference

●      We have the power to speak out on issues we are facing

●      Equality and respect for others.

●      That the ICCSD needs a lot of change

●      You need to be mindful and respectful of everyone around you, because everyone is different and has different experiences.

●      Problem solving takes time and actions

●      Creating change is hard and it takes time. However, it is easier to accomplish when we work together.

●      We can fight for equality

●      Progress is a change we need to accomplish, and we need to advocate for this change.

●      That when you work with a team in a respective manner you can accomplish great things and even things you think are small problems can affect people in big ways.

The grant from The Episcopal Church’s Beloved Community Grants was heaven sent. We were blessed with the opportunity to accomplish many things on our “bucket list” that made a positive impact not only on our LEAD students, but for the students at our school AND in our learning community. For this, we are forever grateful.

-       LEAD Director, Carmen Gwenigale

-       Beloved Community Initiative, Meg Wagner

-       Sankofa Outreach Connection, RaQuishia Harrington