Project 214: the renaissance
I'm sure many people know, but not everyone. I'm the lead visionary for a Nonprofit called Project 214, in honor of my first classroom number, ROOM 214. For those who follow my teaching and speaking ministry, you've heard my backstory. Here's the skinny version:
The year 2009! My first year teaching as a rookie I signed up for a tough teaching assignment in Little Village, Chicago at a second chance charter for Chicago Public School students. They were either kicked out or dropped out of the Chicago Public School system so they enrolled in one of our second chance charters. Mine was called Latino Youth High School.
It was there where I saw the most challenging issues in education flesh out before me like a major motion picture: from gang violence, poverty, no registered address, and the school-to-prison pipeline were all in a day's work for me.
Thus, out of losing my students to gun violence and seeing many of them being taken away by under cover cops coming into my room during 6th period English, the vision of Project 214 was born.
I promised a grieving mother in the parking lot of her son's funeral that I would do something about this: this violence, this terror on communities of color, these disparities--with my classroom, my hands, and my heart. 15 years later, and I haven't broken my promise. Project 214 started grassroots. I was passing out school supplies and offering resources to my students at the building level.
Creating safe spaces, conducting peace circles, inviting local priests and advocates from the neighborhood to talk to the youth(almost 100% Latino by the way), using my local church to raise awareness on these issues in education because my husband was pastor at the time...that's how it all started.
In 2016, myself and a small group of committed citizens and friends officiated Project 214 with the state of Illinois.
P214 then took national stages and wound up in Panama, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, and El Salvador which is longest standing relationship and global partner.
Our mission is to:
Promote Education, Provide Resources, & Provoke Social Change.
To who:
Teachers and students in underserved and underrepresented communities.
The vision:
To facilitate pathways of equity in education.
Yet, at the end of this past year Project 214 went dark. Tons of restructuring, praying, and reimagining were emerging as a result.
Fast forward to today. I just finished an 8-week accelerator program called Seed Spot that helps ventures, passion projects, and businesses grow and thrive for the ultimate social impact and return. It was pressing, challenging, uncomfortable and more. Yet, I learned so much about business models, marketing, administration, angel investors, and funding sources just to name some. I'm so grateful for this journey, and look forward to putting some of these professional tools into practice as an organization. Special shoutout to Latinos for Education for providing this partial scholarship, and Project 214 for believing and investing in me as Visionary.
Now with a new board of directors and a shuffle of a newish volunteer team, alongside me receiving the necessary resources and mentorship to keep Project 214 alive, she breathes again a new breath.
Check out my slide deck that evolved into a Pitch deck for future competitions if we want to enter them.
Due to my leave of absence, I've had the space to visualize what the organization can be and the growth and redesign that is needed to sail the heights.
It's not about me, or any of us connected to it, but about the lives and stakeholders we will help as we walk again and breathe again.
P214 still needs a lot of love, structure, revamping and support, but I'm more confident than ever she will be everything she needs to be and more.
I'm learning in this dimension as educator-activista, speaker & nonprofit leader, only the brave and strong survive out here. The secret in many instances is to sit in the discomfort of growth, advocate for yourself, and to stand up and do it afraid. This is what provokes success, even if that success is eventual. I'm learning to take up space and activate my self-worth. I tell myself as a woman of color, I belong here and where ever I go and WHATEVER I do, I will ADD VALUE. Period.
New website, logo, and medias loading....
Not able to do anything alone, the organization is blessed to have a band of individuals ready to answer the call.
Here we go again...we'll be back in the name of Equal Education Opportunity for all!
Want to support us? Email us: info@project214.net