Young People’s Just Transition Project
The Young People’s Just Transition Project is a summer-long endeavor to create a space where Philly-area students and recent graduates can engage in the movement for a just transition while forging skills and strong relationships in a deep, intersectional, and challenging way. We are committed to forming a multi-racial, economically diverse group of young people who have the potential to become committed leaders in the struggle for climate and economic justice. The Just Transition Project understands the struggle against ecological crisis as intimately linked with the fight for racial and economic justice, including food justice, immigrant rights, school closings, workers’ rights, gentrification, and mass incarceration. We must see these struggles as vital pieces to successfully transitioning to a more just and sustainable economy.
The project connects three different programs:
1) A summer-long apprenticeship where youth participants will be paired with a community organizing or resilience-based organization in Philly or surrounding areas.
2) Regular gatherings including students, community members, and local activists and organizers, a place to share skills and insights, study and discuss shared texts, and have fun together!
3) Developing a network of mutual support among progressive community organizations and youth that will last beyond the summer, and where all those involved can physically and emotionally thrive.
Those interested will have a chance to shape their own role and involvement in the summer. We will work individually with each participant to secure housing and living expenses — we are committed to offering stipends so that no one is prevented from being part of what we’re building because of economic reasons.
Apprenticeship
The apprenticeship is a commitment from participants to work for one partner organization of the Just Transition Project for the summer. Time commitments will vary with the campaigns or projects each organization needs support with, but participants will spend between 5-30 hours a week working for their “root” organization. Those involved will work closely with a current member of the organization or campaign, taking on tasks or projects to aid the mission of the organization while gaining experience and skills in effective organizing.
While each person’s organizing “home” will be with their organization, there will be opportunities (and encouragement) to cross-pollinate with other campaigns/organizations. For example, an apprentice rooted with the Point Breeze Organizing Committee fighting gentrification could spend 3 hours a week working at Mill Creek Farm’s community garden.
Gatherings
A key part of what makes this project different from internship programs is weekly gatherings for cross-talk and skill-sharing between people working on different issues. These gatherings will be shaped by who (both students and organizations) is involved, but will likely be a mix of discussions of organizing literature, “issue share” discussions on specific social justice campaigns in the city, anti-oppression and solidarity organizing trainings, and specific skill-share workshops chosen and taught by participants. This will also give participants training and facilitation experience.
Two very important gatherings will be the orientation, a weekend at the beginning of the summer when everyone gets together for a first meeting and training, and the closing gathering, a time to celebrate, reflect and make commitments for sustaining this work past the summer.
Building Community
There’s more to building a network than working together and talking politics together. We want to be building relationships that will last, and relationships that will help us continue this work and thrive.
Potlucks: Maypop will host weekly potlucks for everyone participating in the project, local organizers, community members, and anyone we know who wants to come! Potlucks will be a place to share delicious food, meet new people, learn who we all are, and celebrate.
Internal Support: We are limiting the number of participants so that we can support each person involved as thoroughly as possible. Each participant will be paired with a member of Maypop as a “peer adviser” or “co-counselor” (with a maximum of 3 people to each advisor) to make sure that everyone has the emotional and organizing support they need during the summer. We will also make space for affinity groups based on participant needs.
Community Healing Workshops: Maypop works closely with Serenity House, a healing space in North Philadelphia. During the summer, Serenity House will host participants to dive into the emotional and spiritual aspects of this work, the blocks and hesitations we bring to it, and how to better support each other through the work.
Goals
Support 8 young people to…
- Develop and refine their political thinking to help them become more strategic and effective organizers
- Learn from a range of social movements and organizing models
- Provide meaningful support to 3-5 justice organizations in the city
- Model a vision for a just transition and climate justice
- Nurture relationships among participants that last beyond the summer (among students and between students and organizations), building and strengthening a network of progressive Philadelphia youth and organizations
- Work on a scale and level of intimacy that allows for deep organizing and transformation, attentive to participants’ goals
- Create community space where students, organizers, healers, connectors, and all parts of the movement for a just transition can come together
- Move forward 1-2 on-going projects that all participants can be a part of. These will likely be a resiliency project such as a community garden, and a unifying nonviolent direct action at the end of the summer to model approaches to a just transition.
