EYEJ: Empowering Youth Exploring Justice
Background
Concerned about the prevalence of poverty-level living environments, the disconnect between society and resources, and the extent of violence among African-American children prompted Mai Moore and the late June Antoine to organize with other Plymouth Church UCC members, including Gloria Sturghill, Pamela Ford, Jan Larsen, Aisha Violette, and Shaundra Cunningham, in 2013.
EYEJ strives to be a connector between community and children, to provide life skills and personal development tools to students in grade six through age 25. Our focus is the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, but we work with young people all over the United States.
Mission
EYEJ drives social justice reform by empowering young people to advocate for change. Our goal is to empower students by connecting them with a variety of adults, professionals, and leaders.
Whether shared by a celebrity or a relatable adult, personal circumstances educate and expose children to lessons of compassion and understanding. EYEJ is about being human. EYEJ firmly believes that it is also important for young children to have diverse role models in the community and to learn diverse perspectives. By nurturing, listening to, and embracing each other as individuals, EYEJ believes we can mold young people into internally strong, successful, self-valued leaders of tomorrow.
EYEJ empowers young people to be advocates for change through YDJ: Youth Discussing Justice and its Youth Council. YDJ is the first step in the pathway to empowering our youth, the next being the Youth Council where students engage in social justice reform. The EYEJ community includes 900 diverse adult members, donors, allies, and organizations who engage with and learn about social justice issues through dialogue with over 1,600 young people and participation in programs such as EYEJ Speaks and town halls.
We're participating in the 2021 Rock Family of Companies Community Challenge! Please consider donating to EYEJ to continue empowering our youth and demonstrating what it means to #BeAChangemaker! Your donation will go to:
- Strengthening the organization's ability to engage more young people through its signature program YDJ: Youth Discussing Justice, and promote leadership development through the Youth Council.
- Building the IT, marketing, and staffing infrastructure of EYEJ to expand our work, the reach of our messaging, and the numbers of young people and schools to be serve.
- Creating stipend internship and career exploration opportunities for high school and college students through EYEJ programming and special events.
Please visit the EYEJ Website to learn more about the work we do to empower our youth and develop self-valued changemakers!