The gentrification of the Mission District brought a "gang list" that affected young people in a 60-block radius, limiting their freedom of movement and association. Vicente Garcia used his 2007 Young People For fellowship to organize the community to stop the gang list.
Young People For Team
Shaunna, 27, joined YP4 in 2005 as an intern in order to build a program to effectively recruit, empower and retain community college students in the core fellowship. Since she became a full-time staff member in November 2005, Shaunna has proposed, researched, tested and evaluated all of YP4’s major new pilot initiatives. For the past year, Shaunna has been responsible for the internal management of YP4’s programs and staff. Before joining Young People For, Shaunna was the executive director of Bike & Build, Inc., a nonprofit dedicated to raising money for and awareness of affordable housing issues through cross-country cycling events. Shaunna’s formal entry point into the progressive movement came in 2003 when she campaigned and raised money for the Democratic National Committee and was the lead organizer in MoveOn.org’s voter engagement project in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was during the 2004 election cycle that she was a witness to and part of the growing power of the youth progressive movement. Believing in the ability of young people to make positive social change in their communities, Shaunna dedicates her spare time to organizations that support young social entrepreneurs, sits on the board of Bike & Build, Inc., and serves as the coordinating committee chair of the Generational Alliance. Shaunna is a native Southern Californian and an alumna of the University of Colorado, Boulder.
Aliza became involved with YP4 while attending Gallatin School of Individualized Study at New York University, where she designed her own course of study in progressive education theory and government policy. Since graduating, Aliza has been active in the management of YP4’s day-to-day operations and numerous progressive events, including the YP4 National Summit, the Young Elected Officials Network’s conference at the Clinton Library and YP4’s events and retreats in New York. Before joining YP4, Aliza worked with a number of organizations focused on youth and education issues, including the Arts-in-Education program at Henry Street Settlement House, where she helped teachers and high school students in Lower Manhattan public schools to integrate the arts into their curricula. Aliza is a native of New York City and currently lives in the East Village.
This Bay Area native’s passion for student organizing started at UC Santa Cruz, where Jessica served as Student Union Assembly President for two terms. During her time there, she organized the student and youth vote for statewide and national elections and helped coordinate student efforts against Proposition 54, which would have removed all ethnic and racial data from public institutions. On campus she also fought for workers’ rights with campus unions. Working with the United States Student Association (USSA), Jessica served as the National Women’s Student Coalition chair, People of African Descent Caucus chair and Golden Pacific Region vice chair. Prior to joining YP4 staff, Jessica served as the organizing director for USSA, creating and organizing campaigns throughout the country that reflected the diversity of USSA constituents and represented the student voice on vital national coalitions such as the Generational Alliance and the College Affordability Coalition. Through her work with the Generational Alliance, Jessica helped to develop Generation Vote, a coalition of more than 20 organizations invested in building a youth movement through the election.
Alicia graduated from Hampshire College with a focus on reproductive justice and abolition of the prison industrial complex. While at Hampshire, Alicia interned at the Third Wave Foundation, designing a workshop to locate young activists in the current reproductive justice movement and managing the organization’s Abortion Fund. Alicia also served as an adult literacy tutor at the Hampshire County House of Correction in Northampton, Mass., and co-created a student group, Building Awareness Across Bars. Her senior thesis, “Deconstructing the Warehouse State: Abolition of the Prison Industrial Complex in the U.S.,” examined the immediate and long-term abolitionist strategies needed to build a world without prisons. While living in Nicaragua, Alicia taught art classes in a prison and assisted in community outreach to youth and teens in surrounding neighborhoods. Alicia joins the YP4 team after working as the alumni fellow at the Civil Liberties and Public Policy Program, a leadership development organization focused on broadening the reproductive health agenda.
Sophia graduated from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service with a major in culture and politics. While at Georgetown, she co-founded an urban arts benefit show. After graduation, she moved to Malaysia to work for an Islamic Arts Museum, a Muslim women’s rights NGO, and to conduct research at the National University of Malaysia. Sophia later returned to Southeast Asia on a Fulbright grant to conduct fieldwork research on the politics of family planning advocacy among the Muslim minority in the Southern Philippines. Sophia recently completed her master’s degree in development studies from the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies. While in London and during a two-month fellowship in Jamaica, she worked with youth at a community-based level as a sexuality educator and peer education advisor. Sophia recently joined YP4 after working with high school students at a youth development organization in the South Bronx. She is also an active member of the Muslim Public Service Network, a leadership development organization that establishes American Muslims in public service and civic engagement careers.
Zach is a Florida State University graduate with a bachelor's degree in political science. As an active student leader, he served as the director of the Pride Student Union, where he helped to establish the LGBTQ Student Resource Center. In this capacity, he also co-founded and served as chief organizer for the Coalition for an Equitable Community, an alliance of students and organizations dedicated to expanding the university's nondiscrimination policy to include protections on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression. During this time, Zach also worked for Refuge House, a local domestic violence and rape crisis center, where, among other things, he helped develop a social justice program for college-aged participants. Before joining the YP4 staff, Zach was a Class of 2007 fellow and served on the YP4 Steering Committee.
Micah joined the YP4 staff because of his lifelong passion for social justice. While still in college, he co-created a gay-straight alliance on his Christian campus. After graduating with honors, he went on to join the Soulforce Equality Ride on their nationwide bus trip to colleges and universities with policies that discriminate against LGBT students. He now serves on the board of Soulforce NYC. Micah also has experience creating and developing programming for children and adolescents from inner city backgrounds, as well as working as a job coach and case manager for adults who have mental illnesses. He is originally from Newport News, Virginia, and came to New York City by way of Philadelphia.