Cohort of Courage: Youth Advocates

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About Cohort of Courage: Youth Advocates

In August 2020, SDVFP hosted a youth forum that inspired our first Cohorts for Courage: Youth Advocates program, where BIPOC youth from area high schools and universities came together to understand and implement strategies for social change. The culmination of the week-long intensive program was a public forum where participants presented on topics that they were passionate about and proposed solutions: health foods in schools, public transportation in Sioux Falls, and discrimination in public schools. Several cohort members have now come together to host a podcast IN THE KNOW. Cohort members are committed to the social change work they developed during the program and SDVFP is continuing to support and uplift their voices. Apply now to be able to join a cohort of change-makers in our state!

* Application Deadline is April 30th, 2023
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* Dates for the program will be June 2-4th, 2023.

About South Dakota Voices for Peace

Founded in 2017, South Dakota Voices for Peace (SDVFP) builds power and enables healing in immigrant, refugee, and Muslim communities by amplifying their voices and working in solidarity with all who dismantle bigotry and racism. SDVFP envisions a South Dakota that is diverse, inclusive, and anti-racist. SDVFP realizes this mission through education, advocacy, legal service, civic engagement and rapid response programming and actions. We work on both ends of the social change continuum—bottom-up in building power, and top-down in lobbying against bigoted legislations and policies through our sister organization South Dakota Voices for Justice. SDVFP's flagship education, advocacy, and civic engagement program is titled Cohorts for Courage.

Action Plans

• We will participate in learning opportunities that develop our social justice leadership skills and provide us with tools to take an idea and put it into action.
  
• We will learn about the history of systemic racism and its impacts today in SD through readings, podcasts and discussions with local advocates.
  
• We will provide skills in media advocacy including organizing press conferences, writing op-eds, writing press releases, and preparing for news interviews.
  
• We will learn from social justice leaders and grow our network of intergenerational changemakers, while brainstorming ways in which we can support and address the needs of our communities.
  
• Ultimately, Cohorts of Courage: Youth Advocates is our next step to fight bigotry and racism, strategically by giving Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) youth the tools and knowledge they need to make positive change in their communities.
  

Program Fees

Thanks to the generous support of our donors, we are able to offer this program free of charge. We will also work with individual families to offer transportation support and accessibility when needed.

Eligibility

SDVFP offers this program to any youth who identifies as BIPOC* (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) and who meets the age requirements, 17-24. All applicants must reside in South Dakota. For minors, a separate parental consent form must be submitted before the start of the program and will be emailed to you upon acceptance.
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* BIPOC have always understood the need for our own spaces for our own safety and healing. This program seeks to create a safe space for BIPOC to reimagine relationships amongst themselves without fear of judgement, shame, and guilt.