INITIATIVE
YouthBuild Social Justice Education Program
An award-winning leadership program delivered in schools for 6th - 12th graders.
Award Winning Program
The YouthBuild Social Justice Education Program was established to serve as a catalyst for positive, transformative change in our community and beyond by investing in our community’s children.
Our program won a 1st place Social Innovations
Journal Award in the Equity and Justice category.
We couldn't be prouder and we thank the Social Innovations Journal for voting for such a meaningful and much needed program.
Our School-Based
Education Program
Coalition4Justice YouthBuild Social Justice Program (YBSJP)-an innovative and transformative, 8-week community-based leadership and education initiative designed to equip youth (ages 11–18) with the tools to tackle racism, prejudice, and exclusion in their schools and communities. Rooted in the Social Justice Standards developed by the Southern Poverty Law Center, the YBSJP is built on four core thematic anchors: Identity, Diversity, Justice, and Action. The Action anchor includes training on the electoral process, addressing voter suppression, promoting voter readiness and registration, and empowering youth to engage in democracy through voting. What makes this approach innovative is its intersection of youth leadership, storytelling, and social-emotional development, grounded in lived experiences and community collaboration.The YouthBuild Social Justice Leadership Program is not a traditional diversity curriculum. It combines interactive storytelling, peer dialogue, and community-based mentorship to foster empathy, cross-cultural understanding, and shared values.
Addressing Youth Vulnerability
An analysis of the Pennsylvania Youth Survey (PAYS) 2019 results – a biannual survey of students – reveals that students in grades 6 through 12 are vulnerable to antisocial behaviors (ASB), including use and abuse of harmful substances, violence, and gang related activity. Such antisocial behaviors can lead to crime, violence, delinquency, and poor academic performance (https://www.pccd.pa.gov).
Furthermore, children are acutely sensitive to societal upheaval, such as the wave of social dissonance and violence that many of our communities have witnessed and/or experienced following the COVID-19 pandemic. These stressful events can be destabilizing, even traumatic, and lead to greater anxiety and mental health issues among our youth.
Schools are Encouraged to Apply for the YouthBuild Social Justice Education Program
The Coalition for Justice can work with your school to deliver this program to 6th through 12th graders. We can be flexible with scheduling, but we can only provide this program for a limited time during each school year.
For the Coalition to collaborate with your school please complete the application below and a Coalition Program Representative will reach out to you. We look forward to the possibility of working with you and learning more about your school, your student populations and your goals.
Make A Donation Or Set Up A Recurring Donation
Please consider donating today to support our work. At this time, many grant opportunities will no longer be available, so it's individuals who are dedicated to the mission of racial equity and social justice which will be the driving economic force to keep our work moving forward! Your contributions will help ensure that we reach as many people and students as possible. We will use your donation wisely and we thank you wholeheartedly for your financial contribution. Thank you for your support. We look forward to becoming better acquainted with you.
We Want To Partner With Your School
YouthBuild Social Justice Education Program
The Coalition4Justice welcomes the opportunity to partner with your school/district to deliver our YouthBuild Program. Please fill out the form below and a member of our program staff will contact you shortly. Thank you for your interest in the Coalition4Justice Youth Build Social Justice Education Program!
Sources:
Learning for Justice, Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), 400 Washington Ave, Montgomery, Alabama 36104
WelcomingSchools.org, Cooperative Extension Service of Kentucky College of Agriculture, Lexington, Kentucky 40546
“Stop Bullying Now”, US Department of Health and Human Services
PACER’s National Bullying Prevention Center, Minneapolis, MN 55437
The pandemic unveiled insensitivity and intolerance with respect to differences among people, on the basis of race, ethnicity and class, for example. Studies have documented that students in grades K-12 are suffering increasing events of micro-aggression, biased-based bullying, and cyberspace harassment. Insensitivity and intolerance present a direct threat to the prospects for success of those children confronted by negative attitudes. Our YouthBuild Social Justice Program educates and help mitagate these effects. It also prepares youth to be responsible adult citizens who exercise their civic duties at the polls.