SOCIAL JUSTICE LEARNING INSTITUTE
Our grant of $25,000 supports their Urban Scholars program for young men of color ages 12-24 in 7 school districts. SJLI is dedicated to improving the education, health, and well-being of youth and communities of color by empowering them to enact social change through research, training, and community mobilization. Our grant will serve approximately 378 youth in grades 6-12 in an elective, credit bearing course provided at schools in Compton, Watts, South Los Angeles, and Long Beach. The Urban Scholars program uses a social justice youth development curriculum and integrates mental health and trauma informed practices that teach students how to respond to the negative elements in their lives. Specific programs outcomes include: increasing academic literacy, self-awareness, understanding of community conditions, increased high school graduation rates for young men of color, increasing the number of young men of color who successfully apply and are accepted to a two-year or four-year college and or gainful employment.