What is the Youth Equity Learning Cohort?
The Youth Equity Learning Cohort brings together educators, youth workers, and people who work with youth to engage in deep reflection and learn about how to create spaces for young people that are responsive, culturally relevant and rooted in equity and justice. We will learn to analyze youth programs and spaces through an equity lens. We will focus on improving practices to advance equity within the context of our own organizations.
The Youth Equity Learning Cohort:
Teams of 3-4 people from organizations that work directly with youth, within in school or out-of-school
- 5 months commitment, consisting of 5 monthly 3-hours cohort sessions from Janurary 2023 through May 2023
- Each organization will receive one technical assitance consultation or check-in meeting and discussion
The Youth Equity Learning Cohort is sponsored by the Minneapolis Foundation and facilitated by the Youth Leadership Initiative staff and youth.
Program Dates:
- Session 1: Friday, January 20th, 9:00 am - 12:00 pm
- Session 2: Friday, Feburary 17th, 9:00 am - 12:00 pm
- Session 3: Friday, March 17th, 9:00 am - 12:00 pm
- Session 4: Friday, April 21st, 9:00 am - 12:00 pm
- Session 5: Friday, May 19th, 9:00 am - 12:00 pm
Program Format:
All sessions will be held virtually through Zoom.
Goals of the Learning Cohort:
- Increase the cultural competency of adults working with youth.
- Increase skills that will elevate equity when working with youth.
- Increase adults’ knowledge about what equity means to young people and examine how to dismantle barriers to achieving equity.
- Incorporate intentional equity practices.
Benefits to your Organization:
- Establish a shared understanding of equity in your work.
- Create and implement strategies to integrate equity into your work.
- Strengthen the cultural competence and skill of your workforce to elevate equity.
- Connect with colleagues and energize your staff team!
Expectations of the Organizations:
- Ability to assemble a 3-4 person organization team that includes a decision-maker (someone who can make strategy, budget and/or staffing decisions), a staff who supervises other staff, and a staff person who works directly with young people. Some of these positions may be overlapping.
- Ability for all members of the organization’s youth equity team to participate in all monthly 3-hours (9 am-12 pm) cohort sessions.
- Schedule one organizational meeting for technical assistance or organizational check-in.
- Willingness to do work to apply learning in-between sessions.
Criteria for Selection:
The Youth Equity Learning Cohort is committed to equity and diversity in selection of organizational teams. We encourage small and large organizations, public sector, schools and nonprofits, organizations that have culturally-specific or serve a broad range of cultural backgrounds, organizations with programs focused on a specific population or identity group or ones that are open to all, to apply. The selection committee will look at the breadth and scope of organizations to ensure diversity of perspective and experience in the learning cohort.
We are looking to select 10-15 organizations to participate in the Youth Equity Learning Cohort. Priority will be given to those whose work impacts the West Metro.
The organization’s team must be able to meet all the expectations listed in the “Expectations of the Organizations” section above.
Application Deadline: January 13th, 2023 at 11:59 PM
Final Decisions and Notifications will be made by January 16th, 2022.
Questions? Contact Ntxheb Chang at ntxheb@yli-mn.org.