Our Programs

MOMENTUM ALLIANCE IS A PLACE FOR YOUTH OF COLOR 14-30 WHO WANT TO:

  • Be in community with youth of color passionate about social justice

  • Explore different social justice topics

  • Take collection action and build collective power

  • Practice leadership and advocacy skills

  • Have connections and understanding with people from different communities and experiences

  • Diversify decision-making in the public, private and nonprofit sectors; alter relations of power; and make systems more equitable

We work with people between ages 14 - 30 because: people of color under 30 are still considered underrepresented and treated as children in institutions of power. This allows us to engage with people over a longer period of time.

Questions about our programs, contact us at programs@mapdx.org

MA PROGRAMMING AT A GLANCE

  • All activities are FREE or PAID!

  • Programs are designed and led by young people

  • All youth are welcome, regardless of immigration status

  • We offer food, bus tickets & childcare reimbursements

OPEN PROGRAM

Young Gifted & Black : A Series of cohorts and programs for and by Black youth

Series 1: A digital abolition study circle: A safe space for Black youth only! Led by Black youth program staff. This cohort will be a semi virtual and semi in-person program. Black youth of PDX area in highschool-college will engage in a series of conversations on what is abolition? what does abolition look like? and how can we be abolitionist? To apply, please click here

 

Educational and advocacy based cohorts

Housing & Transportation Justice cohort:

Previous cohort 2019: Organizing youth of color along the SW Corridor where there was to be an increase in displacement pressures in the coming decades.

2023: Currently under reconstruction

History of our cohorts:

Housing & Transportation Justice Cohort (2018-2019) prioritized organizing youth of color around displacement and transportation access for communities of color- specifically immigrants of refugees of East Africa, Middle East, South America. This was a collaborative cohort where we explored the intersectional efforts of adults and youth. MA youth and staff worked with Unite Oregon to co-create this cohort.

Reproductive Justice Youth Advocates focuses on issues around gender, sexuality, bodies, health care, and other gender, sex, and reproductive oppressions. 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018

Youth Education Advocates focuses on issues related to the education system. 2016, 2017, 2018

2018 was the first year in which both the RJYA & YEA! are black led, and for black youth only.

All cohorts are paid leadership opportunities.

youth equity collaborative

The Youth Equity Collaborative (YEC) is a collaborative of 6 youth organizations in Oregon:

Established in 2016, YEC is the first regional youth-led collaborative for youth organizing in Oregon. Our purpose is to support youth organizing efforts in order to build a youth-led intersectional social justice movement in Oregon. YEC convenes youth on issues that are focused on social justice, diversity, equity, and civic engagement. All 6 organizations in YEC are led by people of color. For us, “led by people of color” means that the majority of the board, staff and youth participants are people of color.

OSCC Planning Interns

This year Oregon Students Association has offered Youth Equity Collaborative and our organization 2 internship spots on the steering committee that plans this statewide conference! What is this? Paid leadership opportunity. For student leaders (community college & university) who are BIPOC. Interns would convene with other student organizers and Oregon Student Association to organize and plan the Oregon Students of Color Conference (OSCC) in May 2023.

Who is this for? This is a space for young student leaders who are interested and passionate about the radical space. Who are interested in disrupting the ways in which academic impacts us, in the ways which system of oppression can be defeated, in engaging with other student leaders from other universities and community colleges across the state of Oregon.

RECREATIONAL ACTIVITIES / SEASONAL CAMPS

Every quarter we provide a free movie night, game night, and or self care night. Our seasonal camps will launch this summer in 2023, with a week-long series of social justice trainings, free for youth of color in Portland!

Please be on the lookout as we will be launching free programming soon.

To learn more about our programs, email us at programs@mapdx.org

If you are a youth of color looking for a paid leadership opportunity, please contact us and we are happy to connect you to our program staff and or to other community organizations that are also providing similar opportunities!