Updates

On December 23rd, we had our second meeting with the entire team!  As the meeting was right before the holidays, we managed to coordinate by an in person meeting as well as conference call and Skype. We made some great headway and even booked our lodgings for Cape Town.

While in Cape Town, we will be staying at the Scalabrini House.  The Scalabrini House is a centre that offers welfare and development programmes, specifically targeting refugees and asylum seekers, however their services are available to everyone.

As a team, we are excited to support the projects at the Scalabrini House and eager to learn more about how they sustain and cultivate their welfare, development, and advocacy initiatives.

Our next meeting is on January 6th! More updates soon!

Our Team

Hello Fellow Change Makers!

We had our first team meeting with youth and organizers on Saturday, December 8th in Oakland.  The meeting was a chance to update everyone on the history and relevance of the project.  It was also a great chance for everyone to become familiar with everyone that will be headed to South Africa in February.

Meet our team:

The Organizers

Jamie Lee Evans

 Jamie is a 46 year-old mixed race Asian feminist who has spent the last twelve years inventing and implementing youth leadership development programs for California foster youth and young mental health consumers.  She is originally from Los Angeles County and grew up believing what she was told about places like San Francisco, namely that it was in another country!  Because of poverty and therefore the limited travel experience of her family, five hours away may as well have been another planet.  Jamie’s experience as a former foster child with inadequate stability in her earliest years impacted her likelihood to be adventurous as an adult.  She honestly admits that she has been afflicted with a habit to cling to the familiar, and she internalized a fear of the unknown, making “travel” only something that “other people do.”  At 44, she finally earned enough cash and gained enough guts to make an international trip and it opened up her perspective more than she could have imagined.  (Shout out to personal trainer Dante Rodrigues who made Muay Thai training in Thailand sound like the bomb!) One of her new life goals is to help young people travel internationally and to help build community around learning from travel.  South Africa is that first trip of a hopeful many.  She thanks her family of choice and community for supporting this learning exchange.  Even just the planning has been mind blowing!

Kate Teague

Kate has been the Bay Area/Central Valley Outreach Coordinator at California Youth Connection (CYC) since Day at Capitol 2006.  Kate first became involved with CYC as an Americorp intern at the Bill Wilson Center in Santa Clara County when her then supervisor Deryk Clark (a former CYC board member) told her that part of her job would be to attend CYC meetings.  After several years of volunteering as a Supporter with the Santa Clara Chapter, and then the Alameda Chapter, she joined the CYC staff. Outside of working at CYC, Kate is also on the Board of Directors for Youth In Mind, a statewide collaboration of youth impacted by the mental health system working to improve the lives of other youth through education and advocacy.

Leslie Brown

Leslie believes in the power and voice of young people. She has worked with various populations of foster and homeless youth over the past 12 years assisting them to develop projects and trainings that empower themselves and their communities. Leslie currently works as a consultant and coach supporting individuals and teams as they work to create social change. “I am so excited about this trip to South Africa. Due the impact of HIV/AIDS in this region it has left thousands of youth parentless which has changed the shape of communities. I am interested in this cultural exchange with organizations that are doing work to rebuild these communities with young people. With the team that is going I believe that this learning exchange is going to be powerful and will build alliances that will last long into the future.” 

Dante Rodrigues

My name is Dante. I am a native of Oakland, CA. My interest in martial arts and physical fitness began at a young age.  It is a passion of mine.  As I got older, I decided to make my passion my career. I have been a certified personal trainer for the last 6 years.  I work with a vast cliental of all types of people: teenagers, elderly people, expecting mothers, and international music entertainers.  I have traveled to Asia to train in Qi Gong in China, as well as Muay Thai kickboxing in Thailand.  One of the organizations that I have also worked with, the Y.O.U.T.H Training Project, has illustrated the impact that becoming stronger in body and in mind can have on current and former foster youth.  Traveling has been a very rewarding and educational experience for me, and I am excited to work with young people as we travel to South Africa.   

The Youth

Onikah Porter 

Onikah Porter, 23, is a 2012 graduate of California State University at Fullerton where she earned her Bachelors degree in History. After graduation Onikah was accepted into Teach For America where she will be working in Early Childhood Education, helping to close the achievement gap for children in low income communities. In addition to reading and writing poetry, travel and cultural exchange is one of Onikah's many passions in life. "Africa has been a desired destination since the moment I caught the 'travel bug'. I think South Africa has so much to teach and I have so much to learn and hopefully somewhere in there I will find that I also have something to contribute. I am sure this experience will be something I carry with me for a lifetime".

Crystal O’Grady

Crystal, 23, is a former foster youth with a passion to advocate for positive change within child welfare.  In June, 2012 she graduated from Stanford University with a B.A. in Sociology and hopes to pursue a career in child advocacy law. Currently, she is working on advocacy projects with the Y.O.U.T.H. Training Project (Y.T.P.) and as a policy consultant for the California Youth Connection (CYC).  Crystal is excited at the opportunity to cultivate exchange and understanding between youth travelers from the U.S. and the youth that the group will be meeting from South Africa. Traveling is one of her passions, and she is grateful that she will be going to South Africa with such a great group of advocates and supporters.

Eli Lopez

Eli currently works for the California Department of Social Services, Foster Care Ombudsman Office. In this position, he has traveled throughout the state of California speaking with youth in group homes, foster homes, and detention centers. He has met with thousands of “high risk” youth, childcare professionals, Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) volunteers, social workers, and others in the field of social work to gain a better understanding of the child welfare system. Eli has also partnered up with many organizations that empower and equip both youth and young adults; such as: Y.O.U.T.H Training Project (YTP), California Youth Connection (CYC), and Youth In Mind (YIM) to name a few. His passion and drive is to work with youth to help them reach and maximize their full potential.

Kevin Clark

"I can’t wait to experience a new culture, especially one that has encountered many challenges such as AIDS and apartheid. This is not just travelling for fun (although it will be), its travelling with a cause, to spread awareness and understanding of the marginalized communities throughout the world, and for that I am grateful."

Talitha James

Talitha is an emancipated youth from L.A. County, now residing in Orange County. Currently, she is studying Human Services at Cal State Fullerton. Her goal in life is to inspire change just as her social worker did for her. After college, her goal is to become a social worker. In the meantime, she is active in her church as a praise dancer, teaches Bible study, and is in Big Love with the Lord!

Everyone left the meeting with action items, and we are one step closer to our trip to South Africa!