Summer Youth Organizing Academy (SYOA)

Lissett Lazo, SYOA Alumni '07 and Community Rights Organizer, reflects on the highlights and breakthroughs of this year's Summer Youth Organizing Academy class. She looks back to her own experience as a SYOA student as a pivotal point in her own growth and transformation as an organizer and young Salvadoreña, Hondureña, Nucaraguense womyn.

Junior Summer Youth Organizing Academy, participant Lamont Harrell, writes about his reasons for coming back to the junior SYOA Program.Hi my name Lamont Harrell and I'm in Junior SYOA . I was in SYOA last year but I decided to come back for 3 reasons. Reason 1: I wanted to learn more about campaigns and I like to organize.

Summer Youth Organizing Academy participant, Damien Romero, shares his lessons and experiences of organizing with the Community Rights Campaign for the first time. "Organizing for the first time was a very moving experience. Even though I was a bit nervous to be placed into conversation with strangers, the fact that I was able to carry them out was very reassuring as the day went on...."

Karla Chavez is a member and volunteer for the Community Rights Campaign.  She is our volunteer photographer for the Summer Youth Organizing Academy.  She blogs about her role in helping build a movement to end the criminalization of our people and the importance of documenting our work through photography. 

Summer Youth Organizing Academy, participant Desirae Monique Duncan, writes about her first day of organizing in buses. "People that are heavily impacted by the prison system need to be organized because if they share their experiences it will open our eyes to the conditions we're all exposed to and how unjust they really are...."