Stand Up, Speak Out, Take Action
Apply to Cultural Leadership’s High School Leadership Program Class 17, beginning January ’22! Any students who will be sophomores or juniors in the 2021- 2022 school year and live in the St. Louis city or county area are eligible to apply.
Learn more about the High School Leadership Program here or contact Program Director Jeremy Brok for more information at jbrok@culturalleadership.org or 314-725-3222.
Cultural Leadership, and the world, mourns the death of another social justice leader this year. For more than a decade, Justice Ginsberg made time to meet with Cultural Leadership students each summer during their Transformational Journey. She was always willing to have open dialogues with students, detailing the hard road to justice, times she succeeded, times she failed, and always inspiring them to fight for what they believed in.
When meeting Justice Ginsburg for the first time, students were often surprised at how such might could come in the form of such a tiny woman. Students have commented how just meeting her and learning about her pursuit of justice motivated them to pursue their own dreams and support the under-represented.
Justice Ginsburg’s actions and ideas will continue to light a path for Cultural Leadership’s young leaders and change-makers. We thank her for all that she’s done and all who she’s inspired. May she rest in peace and power.
Thank you to all who attended our 2020 Journey to Justice Signature Event. Although virtual, our community came together and raised over $91,000 for our students and our mission — and we couldn’t have done it without your support. See you next year!
Sunday, September 13 from 4-7 pm
Featuring:
Our 2020 Journey to Justice Signature event will be held on Sunday, September 13 from 4-6:30pm. This event focuses on bringing our community together to celebrate our achievements, both collective and individual, support our mission, and be inspired by those working to create a more just and equitable future. This years’ event will be held virtually to ensure the safety of our community.
Although virtual, we are immensely excited to be joined by Brittany Packnett Cunningham and Yavilah McCoy to celebrate and exemplify 15 years of Troublemakers.
Brittany Packnett Cunningham is an activist, educator, writer, and leader at the intersection of culture and justice. Cited by President Barack Obama as a leader whose “voice is going to be making a difference for years to come,” Brittany is an unapologetic educator, organizer, and writer. Her popular 2019 TED Talk on Confidence has garnered nearly 3 million views worldwide. Brittanyʼs forthcoming book, We Are Like Those Who Dream, is due to hit shelves in 2021.
Brittany is a Directorʼs Leader and former Fellow at Harvardʼs Institute of Politics exploring social change and intersectional activism. In 2018, Brittany launched Love & Power, a hub created to inspire, empower, and outfit everyday people to seismically shift society. A lifelong activist and proud member of the Ferguson Uprising, Brittany was an appointed member of the Ferguson Commission and President Obamaʼs Task Force on 21st Century Policing. Today, she continues to advocate for urgent systemic change at critical decision making tables and through national and international media.
Yavilah McCoy is the CEO of the Diversity consulting group DIMENSIONS Inc. Through Dimensions, Yavilah services an international portfolio of clients in the areas of Education, Philanthropy, and Social Justice. As an anti-racism activist with an international platform, Yavilah provides training and consulting to numerous social justice projects that span multiple identities and communities. Yavilah serves on the steering committee of the national Women’s March and has been a core part of many large-scale national movement teams, bringing a uniquely intersectional perspective to the ongoing work of racial justice and collective liberation.
Yavilah is a pioneer of the Jewish diversity and equity movement and is an advocate and mentor for the empowerment of a transglobal community of Jews of Color. Yavilah was an inaugural recipient of the Spielberg Foundation’s Joshua Venture Fellowship and directed the launch of the “Ruderman Synagogue Inclusion Project” for Combined Jewish Philanthropies and the Ruderman Family Foundation. Yavilah is a renowned national speaker, educator, and spiritual practitioner and in celebration of the musical traditions passed down to her from three generations of her African-American Jewish family, is also the writer, producer and performer of the Jewish Gospel theatrical production “The Colors of Water.
Purchase your tickets to our Virtual Experience here today!
4:00-4:30pm – VIP Meet and Greet Reception with Yavilah McCoy
4:30-5:30pm – Virtual Event Program
The Virtual Event Program can be viewed after the event for those who are unable to join us during this time, but would still like to support.
5:30-6:00pm – VIP Meet and Greet Reception
6:00-6:30pm – Class 15 Graduation Reception
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Rep. John Robert Lewis is gone, but will never be forgotten.
For more than 15 years, Congressman Lewis met with the students of Cultural Leadership each summer during their Transformational Journey. He shared his story of growing up in rural Alabama and raising and preaching to chickens. He told us about his march across the bridge at Selma, about speaking to hundreds of thousands at the March on Washington, and about fearing for his life on the Freedom Rides.
He inspired our students with his insistence that they, too, can be leaders – telling them that they have “a moral obligation, a mission, and a mandate to speak up and speak out and get in good trouble. You can do it. You must do it.”
We will stand on his shoulders and continue the work. May he rest in freedom.
Our Race to GiveSTL Day campaign was a huge success! Thanks to our community’s generosity, we raised over $10,000 to support Cultural Leadership’s mission and our students. In addition, Cultural Leadership donated over 1,100 canned good items to LifeWise STL and the Harvey Kornblum Jewish Food pantry.
The Race to End Racism is our annual race event, held in conjunction with the Ferguson Twilight Run, that is dedicated to raising money to support Cultural Leadership’s mission of combating injustices.
GiveSTL Day – May 7th this year – is a day of giving that benefits many St. Louis area nonprofit organizations, including Cultural Leadership!
This year, due to health concerns, the Ferguson Twilight Run has been made virtual, and participants can run whenever they are comfortable.
We want to emphasize the giving nature of our community and give back together on GiveSTL Day, which is why we want the Cultural Leadership community to run the The Race to End Racism on GiveSTL Day.
On May 7, join Cultural Leadership and give back in a way that makes you feel comfortable and that connects you to parts of our St. Louis community:
If you can’t wait to support our Race to GiveSTL Day, make an early contribution here.
Let’s get racing!
#HowLeadersGiveBack
