$25,000 / 2018
http://www.colemanadvocates.org/
Coleman Advocates has been organizing poor and working class young people of color in San Francisco since. Through Youth Making a Change (YMAC), Coleman Advocates works to build committed life-long leaders who exert leadership at five levels: in their own life, in their schools, in Coleman campaigns, in the organization, and in the larger movement for racial and economic justice. This renewal grant will support Coleman Advocate’s youth-led intergenerational drive for equity, with particular focus on education in San Francisco (SFUSD). Through the organizing efforts of Coleman Advocates for Education and allies, the Safe and Supportive Schools Resolution, which rejects ineffective zero tolerance practices in favor of evidence-based, positive alternatives, was passed in 2015. Additionally, YMAC developed and secured the passage of a school district resolution to increase resources for African American student achievement, as well as a regular and comprehensive internal and external review of the programs and services supporting African American students. Over the next year, Coleman Advocates will continue to focus on school-to-prison pipeline issues; expand SFUSD’s Sanctuary School Policy to reflect racial justice equity, immigrant rights and restorative justice principles; work with the Teacher’s Union to expand public community schools; and invest resources in youth voter engagement.