In our third round of staff spotlights, we continue highlighting why we do the work we do here at DCAYA. Amy, our Director of Youth Re-engagement and Workforce Initiatives, shares how being empowered as a young person drives her commitment to youth advocacy today.
My drive as a youth advocate originates from an upbringing I refuse to take for granted. Among other privileges, I was raised as an equal at home. My parents encouraged me to be inquisitive about the world around me, (mostly) allowed me to challenge their rules, and never backed me down from respectfully questioning those of other grown-ups. While practiced more assertively now, these are the same skills I rely on in my work as a youth advocate. Don’t take things at face value. Ask why, as often and to as many people as you can, until you uncover the underpinnings of a decision you can change.
Looking back, I remember an example of a particularly audacious conversation with my Aunt Ro, a New York Sister of Charity and one of the most fiercely loving and justice-minded people I may ever know. As a 9 year old, I was really resisting some of the rules within the Catholic Church, and I knew I could trust my Aunt Ro to shoot me straight. I told her I needed some help, and she came to sit with me in a quiet room away from a busy family party. I launched right into one of the biggies. “Why can’t women be priests, Aunt Ro?” Answering after some hesitation, she said, “Well it’s very unfair. But we should pray about it until God changes his mind.” I had been prepared to hear a Biblical argument about the different ways men and women could serve the Church, but this blew my everloving mind. Apparently you could question the justice of the world all the way to the top!
Perhaps my favorite thing about her, though, was that Aunt Ro said her prayers through action. Whether providing medical services in Guatemala, or teaching nursing and psychology to community college students, or coaching my mom through college as a young, single parent—Aunt Ro knew that empowerment required intention, humility and action.
While many adults across the District are working to make improvements, I see a lack of this approach to empowerment across the systems that link supports, programs, and opportunities for young people. I see students pushed out of school and into disconnection without sufficient individualized supports. I see young people unable to access a workforce development program that meets them where they are and links them to a sustainable career pathway. And maddeningly, I don’t see enough adults questioning the status quo and looking to young people for better ideas.
It’s this empowerment and ownership of the future I believe all young people deserve. Youth across communities within DC, and especially from those who have been historically and systematically denied access to power, must be welcomed to tables where decisions are made. Their questions, ideas, and opinions should rattle the status quo. Discussions with young people must not be celebrated out in the open while adults gather behind closed doors and make the real decisions. Youth should be treated as equals, consulted as experts, and looked to as leaders. It’s one thing to “elevate youth voice” in a noisy policy debate, and another to quiet your adult mind, take a step back from the center of the conversation, and make sure young people of color are heard throughout the process.
Over the next year, DCAYA will continue incubating DC Youth Moving Forward, a youth-led advocacy and action program. The program aims to help local African-American and Latinx youth create a clear plan for their advocacy work and, through the youth-led model, will teach young people critical leadership and advocacy skills to navigate the systems and government structures it takes to see real change.
With the expansion of this program, we’re staying true to our commitment to DC youth, DCAYA’s mission, and community-first organizing principles. And we expect that this will bear fruit for years to come as young leaders become formidable advocates for the concerns of their peers and their community. If you’d like to support this work, please consider giving to our Year End Campaign.