This past year, the student leaders of IntegrateNYC4me have traveled from coast to coast sharing their work of elevating youth voice through research, advocacy, and action in New York City to stand for school integration and equity.  As a result of their inspiration, they have received requests to support building a network of youth leaders from California to Denver to Texas to Florida to Arkansas to Massachusetts to Connecticut.  To support this vision of a national movement, IntegrateNYC4me will be hosting a three day intensive virtual summer institute from Monday, July 31st through August 2nd. We will offer one day of virtual professional development, a day of building activities for participants and third day of collaborative national strategy building for the 2017-2017 school year. JOIN US!
The youth leadership council of IntegrateNYC4me has been the backbone of IntegrateNYC4me. During the virtual institute, they will share about their contributions to the organization, regular communication structures, and what kept them feeling engaged and powerful. This is a powerful opportunity for organizations to learn about the structures and systems necessary to support youth leadership development and expression.
The NYC Youth Council on Integration has five student-generated committees on integration:
1. Race and Enrollment
2. Resource Allocation
3. Relationships Across Group Identities
4. Restorative PracticesÂ
5. Representation of Teachers and Staff
The visionary leaders from these committees will share with participants about how they generated these committees, what actions they took this year, and what kinds of political education and outreach lead them to success.Â
Executive Director, Sarah Camiscoli will share about the growth of the organization from 2014 to 2017 and support organizational partners and adult allies to think intentionally about how to set up a structure that is powerful, sustainable, and transformative in nature. As the student leaders share about their work, Sarah will facilitate brainstorm activities for all participants to think about how these models might apply in their own contexts. She will also share a development coaching structure for youth and allies for the 2017-2018 school year with a plan for a 2018 National Youth Conference in New York City.
For the first day of the institute, IntegrateNYC4me will be sharing about the story of how we came to be, the structures we have put in place to be successful, and our best kept secrets on how to unlock the magic of youth power and advocacy. This will also be a time for participants to share their vision for youth leadership, consider the tools that they have at their disposal, and begin brainstorming what's possible in their prospective communities for the 2017-2018 year.Â
For the second day of the institute, IntegrateNYC4me will provide four hours worth of retreat activities for participants to work on to build their vision for the year and generate action plans with their prospective teams or partners. This will allow the participants to powerfully return to day three with their individualized action plan for elevating youth leadership to stand for integration and equity.
For the third day of the institute, IntegrateNYC4me will reconvene on the virtual platform with participants and listen to the incredible visions and action plans generated in the previous day of retreat and collaboration. All participants will then join in a IntegrateUS National Network Strategy Building Session to map out the prospective plans for the year, identify areas of resonance, and create a national planÂ
