Recent Achievements

What did we do in 2020?

  • We planned and prepared for some amazing programming that was targeted to provide leadership opportunities and a safe space for Black youth of PDX. Unfortunately due to covid19 and shutdown mandate we paused our efforts for everyones safety.

  • We launched a covid19 financial relief aid program in Fall 2020-Winter 2021. We received 2100 applications from youth of color across the state who were directly impacted by covid19 and in need. Program was run and led by youth interns who were previous participants of MA programming in 2017-2020.

  • We began planning to distribute payments in 2021.

  • We onboarded new youth board members to our board! Majority were previous youth participants

What did we do in 2017?

  • We sent 60 youth to the Oregon Students of Color Conference -this is significant because for many youth, this is their first time visiting a higher education campus and conference, and its even more powerful for youth of color to be in a space specifically for students of color.

  • We completed our year-round leadership development cohorts “Reproductive Justice Youth Advocates” (RJYA) and “Youth Education Advocates!” (YEA!) for 20 youth. RJYA helped pass the Reproductive Health Equity Act which expands reproductive health care access for undocumented immigrants, LGBTQ people, and low income people. YEA! helped pass the HB2845 which will bring Ethnic Studies to all Oregon K - 12 schools by 2020.

  • We organized an undocumented youth rally in front of Portland Immigration Customs Enforcement where over 40 people were in attendance and 6 undocumented youth shared their demands and visions for change. Our rally was covered by at least 4 publications, including the Oregonian

  • We hosted a meeting for Congressman Earl Blumenauer to hear directly from undocumented youth. As a follow up, our youth were invited to two more meetings with Congressmen.

  • We raised $20,000 to support 40 DACA recipients with their DACA renewal fees

  • We sent 4 undocumented youth to D.C. to fight for a Clean Dream Act

  • We launched a pilot partnership with Metro, our regional government. The goal of our partnership is to ensure that youth of color become an integral part of government. We hosted 12 engagement opportunities where Metro staff and Metro Council heard directly from youth of color. We also created over 20 paid leadership opportunities for youth to help Metro advance racial equity and build trust with communities of color. We are still in the process of evaluating some of the outcomes of our pilot partnership. Is there more mutual understanding between government and youth of color? Can our government really serve the needs of our most marginalized communities?

  • We hosted 7 weeks worth of FREE social justice camps for over 100 youth. A dozen youth had paid opportunities to design our camp and facilitate workshops on a variety of topics ranging from displacement, food desserts, indigenous solidarity, and self-care.

  • We provided over 60 paid opportunities for youth to practice their leadership skills and advocate for social justice.

  • We organized 40 youth to directly engage with legislators and elected officials on issues that youth care about. Youth advocates on issues related to: reproductive health care, immigration, Ethnic Studies, police brutality, and transportation access.

  • We hosted over 40 youth-led social justice trainings

  • We supported over 20 youth in receiving job training and employment