The idea for this program emerged from bringing together 13 local BIPOC teachers and high school students in a two-week participatory action research project to analyze how we could improve the recruitment and retention of PSD teachers of color and improve the experiences of youth of color in the community. We drew from our varied experiences at different schools and school committees about the needs students are consistently expressing. The members of this design team have served on local intercultural and intracultural K-12 committees and groups: the Black Student Union, Equity Action Team, Equity Diversity and Activism Committee, Equity Inquiry, Equity Social Justice, ISTAR Advisory Board, Latin American Student Alliance, Latinx teacher and youth conferences, League of United Latin American Citizens, Los Lobos, Native American Advisory Council, Staff Equity Coalition, Student Advocates, and Upward Bound.

We asked the BIPOC high school students in our group to identify what they felt that our BIPOC youth community needs most, based on what they hear consistently within and across the local groups named above. The needs they identified: affirmation, mentorship opportunities (rather than stereotypical and deficit mentee roles), job and leadership opportunities, feeling understood and supported, finding joy within our/their heritage, feeling strength and power for understanding resistance, honoring families, representation in curriculum learning, seeing a future for our/themselves, valuing our/their culture as a strength, taking action for current issues, resisting stereotypical representations of our/their culture, amplification of historical heritage and history acceptance, and a feeling of adding value to a shared collective.

Our idea for this program emerged from these identified needs: high school students would mentor rising grades 4-8 students to start mini businesses related to their cultural strengths. They would explore curricula to affirm the power of their cultures and reflect and share with peers. The students would then design a business to sell something related to art and culture. For example, they could design a niche food business, design a music/dancing instruction business, or culture-connected art businesses. High schoolers would focus on supporting students’ math and literacy skills in authentic ways.

To have a truly equitable program, we aim to offer the program at no cost for 40-50 rising grades 4-8 students. We will be paying our local high school students (current and recently graduated) and teachers a fair wage for participating in the program as mentors. These costs include a provided breakfast and lunch and materials for the students to build their businesses.

The Fort Collins Museum of Discovery has generously donated its space to host this program, and we have received generous donations from the Bohemian Fund and the City of Fort Collins Equity Grant.

We are grateful for any donations to make this program free and accessible for the students. Further donations will allow us to include more youth from the city of Fort Collins. All donations to this project will be used to benefit the True Color Effects Youth Leadership Program and include more youth. We appreciate any donations for this new program to launch successfully: https://ramfunder.colostate.edu/project/40778.