About the Institute

Reclaiming Our Dreams Youth Leadership Institute, initiated by the University of Louisville College of Arts & Sciences, is a year-long project, funded in part by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, in partnership with Jefferson County Race Community and Child Welfare Initiative and Louisville Metro Department of Public Health & Wellness's Center for Health Equity.

WHAT AND WHO
The program will provide middle and high school students from West Louisville communities (such as Shawnee and Portland) opportunities to engage with peers, families, and their communities in innovative ways:

• Dynamic teambuilding and leadership development activities
• Cross‐generational training and education in human rights
• Digital story telling development 
• Community mapping projects to frame anti‐racist oral history of Portland and Shawnee neighborhoods

PROGRAM GOALS
Students who participate in this program will:

• Increase confidence and competence through support of college and adult mentors
• Become strong social justice leaders
• Address neighborhood issues through service learning opportunities

WHEN
This year-long project launches with a 2 1/2 day training in a nationally-recognized People's Institute for Survival and Beyond: "Undoing Racism" workshop"in October 2010, followed by a second workshop in December.  The Youth Leadership Institute will continue meeting Saturdays during the school year, and conclude with a June 2011 summer camp.