Youth Organizing
The future of any movement relies on the ability to develop the needed leadership to sustain it. This is why Centro Campesino organizes and empower Latino youth. We train young Latino leaders on community organizing and leadership skills. Our youth network is comprised by over 100 Latino youth that actively participate in Centro Campesino’s campaigns and projects. They also have the opportunity to indentify and work on the issues they care about. Our youth currently work around issues related to immigration reform, access to higher education and educational equity.
16 Solutions that Deliver Equity and Excellence in Education
Centro Campesino is proud to announce the release of a new policy paper highlighting 16 powerful and proven solutions that if implemented could drastically improve the education of students of color in Minnesota. Centro Campesino is a co-releaser of this policy paper in collaboration with 11 other organizations convened by the Organizing Apprenticeship Project through the Education Equity Organizing Collaborative. The racial disparities in our education system are clear and we present a proactive approach that looks at ways to reduce and eliminate the disparities in our system. Please take some time to contribute to the work of Centro Campesino and the EEOC coalition convened by OAP.
Centro Youth attend the Racial Justice Gathering
Thirteen of our young leaders attended the first state wide Gathering for Racial Justice sponsored by several organizations such as Centro Campesino and the Organizing Apprenticeship Project. They learned about power, community organizing and connected with other youth working on similar social issues such as immigration and education equity.
2011 Summer Internships for Youth
This summer we will have 10 summer internships open for Latino youth in our community. You will learn about empowering others to solve the issues that impact their lives: community organizing, leadership skills, and you will have the opportunity to plan and execute your own project. Open the application attached under this post for more information. Deadline to apply is Friday June 17th 2011
2011 Scholarship Application Open!
Applications for our 2011 scholarships are now open. Latino high school seniors from selected communities can apply now. Scholarships ranging from $500 to $1000 will be awarded this summer. Open the attachment at the bottom of this post to find the application and eligibility requirements.
Educational Equity Campaign
Minnesota has one of the worst achievement gaps in the country. Students of color don’t perform as well as their white counterparts. For instance, only 41% of Latino students graduate from college. In order to solve this problem it is important that as a society we resolve the racial disparities that cause these iniquities. This is why Centro Campesino is working with other organizations in the state through the Education Equity Organizing Collaborative. This Collaborative, which now includes 14 multiracial organizations, brings parents, youth and community together to learn, envision and create strategies for closing the academic achievement gap for students of color.
Youth-led Innovation~ Computer literacy, leadership and revenue~ 02/16/11
Omar and Fernando are two young leaders in our youth organizing initiative. They have successfully put together a computer lab at Centro's office. They worked hard during the summer to collect donated computers. Their goal is three fold.
1) Help adults in the community learn computer skills so they can get better jobs and opportunities
2) Have young students like them teach the classes so they can develop their personal and leadership skills
3) Use the computer classes as a source of revenue for our youth organizing initiatives
They will be starting classes this march 2011 and already many adults are interested in the classes. This is an example of what young leaders can do when they learn to identify and solve social problems in their community.
