Bring immigrant youth leaders together
We are I Learn America (ILA), a group of immigrant youth leaders who use the power of storytelling to help our peers: immigrant and refugee youth learn that they are not alone, as we help them define who they are in their new culture, come of age in a new language, and build a “home” in this new land.
OUR GOAL:
Today, we are asking for your support for our ILA’s Annual Meeting through which we bring ILA youth leaders together from across the country. Funds raised will make it possible for 10 ILA Youth leaders to travel from California, Florida, and Maryland to the East Coast (Boston and New York), connect, share knowledge, dream of next steps, plan actions AND MOST IMPORTANTLY celebrate our ILA community and the work we are making happen.
Your funding will have a sustained impact on immigrant youth leaders like Katheryne, who says “ I Learn America is a safe space to speak out, speak on who I am and what I’ve gone through. It allows me to find other people that can connect to my story.”
With your funds, our ILA Annual Summer meeting will positively impact more newcomer youth like Catherine de Jesus (originally from the Dominican Republic) who says, “Seeing our peers and learning from each other and our experiences is inspiring. I want to keep on learning from our amazing team of educators and youth leaders. I want to create more projects and help us network and build together.”
HOW THE FUNDS WILL BE USED:
We’re seeking to raise $7,000 to cover the costs of travel, lodging and food for 10 of the 20 youth leaders who will journey to the East Coast for 3 days in July so that they can attend I Learn America’s Annual Meeting. We want to allow ILA Youth Leaders to meet other newcomer youth, educators, and artists who are committed to empowering immigrant and refugee youth to make positive social change in their communities. Many of our youth leaders are unable to access financial aid and without the support of people like you would be unable to attend the conference.
FUNDING GOALS*
Approximately $540 per ILA Youth Leader
13 Youth Leaders x $540 = $7,000
WHAT WILL HAPPEN AT THE ANNUAL MEETING:
Learning/Planning:
Guided by I Learn America’s practice of “listening, sharing and learning with the heart,” immigrant and refugee youth will reflect on our work, investigate, test, and assess what we’ve done in schools across the country and refine our best practices to further use storytelling to:
- Uplift the immigrant experience ·
- Support healing and community building;
- Help our young peers become socially in-tune and emotionally strong;
- Help educators take care of themselves and better support their immigrant students;
- Inspire youth-lead learning and civic action, especially through the arts and family engagement
Impact of ILA’s Annual Meeting:
“ Our Annual Meetings are safe spaces to ignite our creativity, encourage new ideas, and for the ILA community to collaborate and grow as a whole. On an individual level, the Annual Meeting gets us to connect with each other, self-reflect and grow stronger.” - Shivani from India
“ I never imagined getting to meet such amazing people. We are all passionate about what we do. Some of us do storytelling using photography, others use painting, and some are experts in poetry. Every time we meet, we feel inspired. Every time we meet, I think about ways to guide others to tell their stories” - Floriselda from Guatemala
“ Last year during our last Annual Meeting, it was great to share all the experiences and work we are doing. I want to meet again to see the progress our community is going through. I want to meet to build next year.” Daniel from Colombia
Celebrating:
This year, our annual meeting is that much more special as it coincides with Brandon’s wedding. Brandon is one of the 5 original students involved in the I Learn America movie.
Brandon’s story was the genesis of the I Learn America movement. His story has inspired cohorts of ILA youth to use their own stories to lead, engage and inspire. The day after the Annual Meeting, Brandon invited the ILA Youth Leaders to his wedding to further celebrate our community and collective work.
WHO WE ARE
We are a coalition of youth, students, educators and artists. Multicultural, multilingual and all connected to the migration narrative and experience.
- We live in California, Florida, New York, Maryland, Massachusetts.
- We come from Haiti, Dominican Republic, India, Syria, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Haiti, Benin, Colombia, Venezuela, Cuba, Eritrea, Jamaica, Peru, Mexico, France, the US.
- In schools across the country, we are using our stories to lead workshops and story-sharing events for our peers to express who they are and engage their communities to fully embrace who we are.
WHAT IS "I LEARN AMERICA (ILA)"?
ILA is a youth lead educational project (which emerged from a MacArthur-funded film)- It has a 7-year history of engaging 15,000 youth who have filled a digital library with 1000+ migration stories and implemented impactful art projects that deepen public explorations of who they/we are, challenging the very idea of what it means to be “American.”
Through ILA, youth agency, social-emotional learning and artistic advancement are centralized as immigrant-origin students write, artistically produce, share and activate the stories of their lives from their own perspectives on their own terms while giving adults from receiving communities the opportunity to listen, learn, and embrace them for who they are.
In the youth's voice:
“I Learn America means family to me. We work from different states to help boost immigrants to tell their stories. I love it here because I feel safe and so loved.” - Ameer living in Maryland
“With the I Learn America Project we overcome barriers and see that there are others that are going through the same struggles.” - Leslie living in California
“ I Learn America is a safe space to speak out, speak on who I am and what I’ve gone through. It allows me to find other people that can connect to my story.” - Katheryne, living in Florida
“ I Learn America has helped me to appreciate who I am. Telling my story helps me feel proud of my identity and my past experiences, it shows me how strong I am.” - Catherine de Jesus living in Boston
OUR ILA LEADERS:
1. Leslie
From El Salvador - 3rd Year at UCLA - ILA Los Angeles Executive Leader
2. Flori
From Guatemala - 3rd-year Psychology Major at UC Riverside, California - ILA National Lead Coordinator
3. Carlos
From Honduras - Senior - Miguel Contreras Ed Complex, Los Angeles - ILA Fellow.
4. Katheryne
From Colombia - 1st year at Broward College, Florida - ILA Florida Executive Leader
5. Eulalia
From Guatemala - Senior - Miguel Contreras Ed Complex, Los Angeles - ILA Fellow.
6. Kharemah
From Jamaica - Senior at Everglades High School, Florida - ILA Broward County Fellow
7. Aracely
From Honduras- Senior at South Broward High School, Florida - ILA Broward County Fellow
8. Ameer
From Syria - 1st year at Prince George's Community College - ILA Maryland Lead Facilitator
9. Yoni
From Eritrea - 4th year at Hood College - History Major - ILA Maryland Executive leader
10. Brenda
From San Francisco Valley - 1st year at UCLA - ILA Los Angeles Facilitator/National Team
11. Xan
From Lawrence, Massachusetts - Senior At Lawrence High School - ILA Massachusetts Lead
12. Daniel
From Colombia - ILA Massachusetts Lead
13. Sebastien
From Colombia - 2nd year at Broward College, Florida - ILA Florida Content Maker
Flori, one of our migrant youth leaders from Guatemala often says: “It takes imagination to cross borders.” We are grateful for your support - Together, let’s use radical imagination to cross into uncharted territories and offer the healing solidarity that we all need.
Co-organizers7
Jean Michel Dissard
Organizer
Brooklyn, NY
Lamia Guellati
Co-organizer
Leslie Roman Calderon
Co-organizer
Floriselda Velasquez
Co-organizer
Katheryne Diez
Co-organizer