The 3 Ways Youth Forward MKE Aims to Be Different
The Youth Forward MKE Coalition launched with a bang on March 23, not simply outlining their plans and priorities, but also declaring the ways in which they aim to be different.
“We seek to work alongside youth as partners, valuing their opinions, their experiences, and seeing them as experts on the issues they face each day,” said Clintel Hasan, strategic initiatives manager at Milwaukee Succeeds and lead on its high school success priorities.
Simply put, Youth Forward MKE is breaking the mold, allowing youth to be the guiding force for change.
Nearly 60 individuals from across Milwaukee joined together during the launch to celebrate this new initiative and learn what it truly means to create space for, build relationships with and shift power to the city’s youth.
Creating Space
“We only have one rule for those that are interested in joining this Coalition,” said Catina Harwell-Young, director of engagement and culture with Milwaukee Succeeds, “and that is that members must commit to learn how to create spaces where youth and adults have full equity. It's a core belief for this movement and one we will not compromise on.”
Lila Weatherall, director of teen and community programs at PEAK Initiative and one of the adult co-leads for Youth Forward MKE, took this idea and ran with it as she explained her commitment to the Coalition’s guiding priorities.
“It's crucial for us to continue to provide programs and spaces where [youth] can show up, they can learn skills, explore their own talents and find spaces to lead.”
During the breakout session dedicated to this theme, PEAK Initiative participant Yesenia Mazariegos gave a youth perspective on what it truly looks like to create space in this way.
“A lot of youth in Milwaukee never had the space or support systems that allowed for them to feel heard,” she said. “And it is crucial. We are literally the future.” For her, creating authentic spaces means breaking the stigma that youth can’t bring ideas to the table.
Last year’s Design Your Future Fellowship was a prime example of creating a space where young people felt valued and empowered to create real change. During this paid summer program, 58 young people from around Milwaukee created plans to improve high school for Black male youth.
Now the Coalition is focused on bringing these ideas to fruition. With the help of David Emmanuelle Castillo of Equitable Systems Consultants, they’re currently building out an implementation plan and accompanying budget. The next step is stakeholder engagement, with the goal of identifying partners to help execute these ideas by the end of the summer.
(As part of this endeavor, Youth Forward MKE is currently raising $600,000 to help bring these proposals to life. If you would like to help create space for our youth in Milwaukee, consider a donation.)
Building Authentic Partnerships
One organization can’t do this work alone. “We need to acknowledge that we are not experts in everything,” said Lila Weatherall. “And we need to build these partnerships to provide our young people with resources and opportunities for them to grow.”
Delonta Henderson, one of the 2022 Youth Forward MKE Ambassadors, shared the same sentiment in a video played during the launch: “I’d encourage [people] to pull together to try to form a much larger force. Nothing can be done alone. Might as well help that we all work together on this one.”
This idea of comradery and collaboration was echoed by Heaven Perry, a student at Pius XI High School. “This is where it starts. Before we can even make a safe place for the youth, the youth need help to make a safe place for each other. And I feel like we need the adults’ help in order to do that We need to create a connection between the two.”
Building this strong, aligned network of partners means overcoming the hurdles that have historically kept organizations separate from one another.
“Too many youth-serving organizations have been in this silo mentality, fighting for the same crumbs on the table,” said Paul Moga during the group’s breakout session. Moga, the coordinator for the MPS Department of Black and Latino Male Achievement, continued, “The kids simply can’t afford that anymore.”
Danae Davis, executive director of Milwaukee Succeeds, succinctly stated the solution: “What we have to do in order for this to work is we have to unite around this common cause.” Whether it’s funders or direct service providers or conveners, if youth are to succeed, collaboration must win out over competition.
For Glenn Carson, senior director of teen programming at the YMCA of Metro Milwaukee, this means understanding the interests of the teens he serves - and aligning the organization’s partnerships to meet those needs. For Lanelle Ramey, executive director of MENTOR Greater Milwaukee, this means joining with partners like Employ Milwaukee to pool their expertise and offer programming they couldn’t have provided alone.
Youth Forward MKE is utilizing this intentionality to build a network that will ultimately increase resources for the city’s Black male youth, specifically in the areas of mental health and workforce development. This involves crafting what’s known as a strategic financing plan.
Currently, the Coalition is conducting a fiscal map to understand how public dollars are being invested in mental health and workforce programs – and what needs remain unmet. By assembling a workgroup to analyze this data, they’ll be able to create an informed plan to advocate for additional funding and investments to better support Milwaukee’s young people.
Shifting Power
Nowhere was the theme of authenticity more pronounced than the evening’s discussions surrounding shifting power.
Take it from one of Youth Forward MKE’s 2022 Ambassadors, Amaya Bauldwin. “I came here because I felt like there was nothing really changing. It felt, in the city, like everything stayed the same. But when I heard about this opportunity, I knew I had to get on to it because they were actually willing to hear us out and put our voices onto a platform.”
Shifting power means doing things differently, shifting ways of operating so that young people not only have a seat at the table, but they’re actively leading and driving decision-making.
“And the way to do it,” explained Matt Nink, national director of partnerships for SKY Schools, “is wherever we have a decision-making body, whether it's a board of a school or a church or any kind of organization, simply invite a youth to be a full-fledged voting member. It's as simple as that.”
Yet shifting power will always pose its challenges.
“As adults, sometimes its’ hard for us to give up that power in some of those spaces,” said Glenn Carson, “especially to young people. … But it’s an opportunity for adults to be more vulnerable and to trust that young people can make those decisions and be at the table with them.”
Youth Forward MKE’s solution to authentically shifting power revolves around a tool called youth impact assessments, which place a youth-centered lens on local decisions. These assessments are an agreed upon set of questions that summarize the potential effects of proposed policies and practices on young people.
According to Clintel Hasan, this could take a variety of different forms – from changing resource allocation through the county budget to updating the criminal justice system’s treatment of youth or even transforming the way Milwaukee Public Schools create policies and budgets.
Youth Forward MKE is still in the beginning stages of this work, identifying which of these entities would be the best to prioritize. Once that determination is made, the Coalition will convene a work group, including youth, to devise and create the assessment and push forward with implementation.
Get Involved
“I've always believed in the power of young people, and joining the Coalition has allowed me to practice what I preach and challenge myself to be more intentional,” said the YMCA’s Glenn Carson. “This group can be a great opportunity to bring the youth of Milwaukee to the table - not just in this space and Coalition, but at all of your organizations and companies.”
Youth Ambassador Deh Nee put out a call to action to anyone interested in joining the movement: “[Help us] make the best for the future generations so they can strive and thrive without having to face the problems and situations like what we’re fixing now.”
Youth Forward MKE is more than just a group of people. It’s an opportunity to be different, to shake up the city and rethink the way things have always been done. And this is just the beginning.
If you’d like to be part of the change – as a partner, a funder, or in any other capacity – reach out to Youth Forward MKE to learn more today!