The Round Table: A YVote Podcast

At this week's Emily and Hannah spoke with Sarah Jakle, Founder and Executive Director of DemocraShe. Previously Sarah served as the Get Out The Vote Director for the California National Organization for Women and National Outreach Director for Field Team 6, leading the innovative effort to register voters using effective issue-based voter registration techniques. Empowering women to hold political office has been a focus since Sarah first interned at the Women’s Council of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in college.

Prior to creating DemocraShe, Sarah practiced as a social worker in Los Angeles, helping adults coping with mental illnesses, addiction, and homelessness. She is a current Fellow with Obama’s Organizing For Action and serves on the Board of Directors for Urban Partners Los Angeles. She discussed her journey in civic engagement from being a social worker through becoming an activist to feeling the need to create DemocraShe for intersectional women stepping into roles of democracy.

A large part of why Sarah created DemocraShe was to build skills into early women's leadership training in response to what she saw happening to women candidates in 2018 and 2020 who were stepping up to try to serve their country yet were brutally attacked and all the more across any intersectional identity. She recognized the need to help women build skills to manage our nervous systems and deal with both the imposter syndrome that can lead us to count ourselves out AND the pushback that comes when we step up to lead.

Sarah explained DemocraShe's curriculum and what it entails, specifically zooming in on the power of incorporating resiliency and political skills for high school students. Getting civically engaged can been difficult for young people and we discussed each of our journeys and how our experiences have been to date, backlash and all. We ended the episode by discussing two concrete skills that we can immediately draw upon in our lives: our practices with Grounding and our Inner Best Friend. Thank you for listening!

At this week's Round Table, Emily, Hannah and Skyla spoke with Sasha Simon and Rhana Hashemi about harm-reduction based drug education. As the Founder and Principal Consultant at Sasha Simon Consulting, Sasha provides training, technical assistance and consulting services to youth-serving professionals transitioning away from punitive, abstinence-based drug education and policies and towards inclusive, restorative, and health-based structures that support the whole child and their community. Rhana is a Bay Area-based drug educator, a national expert in youth overdose prevention and harm reduction, and a doctoral student in Social Psychology at Stanford. She founded an educational organization called Know Drugs, which works to advance evidence-based prevention and harm reduction drug education for youth to prevent overdoses and risky drug use. 

Sasha advocates extensively on issues related to teens and drug use, sexuality and health, adultism, and BIPOC mental health, building intergenerational coalitions and collaborative networks to empower youth as advocates to challenge political issues that directly impact them and to deliver innovative, cross-sector approaches to public health and education. Sasha also co-founded the Fierce Leadership for Youth Academy, a college prep non-profit aiming to remove financial barriers to higher learning for first-gen college students of color. 

Rhana translates scientific research and uplifts community youth voices in the design and development of prevention messaging. She was a key contributor to Safety First, the nation's first harm reduction-based drug education curriculum, and has piloted the program across several Bay Area schools. Her work has been featured by major news outlets such as the NY Times, TIMES Magazine, and NBC’s Today Show. 

After learning about their fascinating backgrounds, we dug into how they’ve co-designed, piloted, and evaluated Safety First programs WITH teachers and students, which is super inspiring.  We also discussed recently updated drug education laws in Illinois and Texas, honing in on the policy changes since the fentanyl overdose crisis. Sasha and Rhana put forth a call to action based on everything that they’ve learned and experienced on how YOU can adopt harm reduction-based approaches to drug education in your community. Thank you for listening!

At this week’s Round Table, Hannah, Inyoo, Jack, and Kenisha spoke with Thea Sebastian, Director of Policy for Civil Rights Corps, as well as the founding Director of the Futures Institute. In her role, Thea oversees a wide range of initiatives that include policy changes related both to advancing community safety and building cradle-to-career youth opportunity. One of her current projects involves building a cross-disciplinary Futures Agenda, which aims to be a Green New Deal for youth.

Thea’s trajectory is very inspiring: a graduate of Harvard College, Oxford University, and Harvard Law School, she now serves on the board of Harvard University, which she joined as a petition candidate running on a climate divestment platform. Thea started her career as a classroom teacher, teaching special education in the South Bronx prior to working on social and educational policy, including stints in local government and in the White House Domestic Policy Council, leading up to her current role as Director of Policy for Civil Rights Corps.

We were fascinated by Thea’s work at the intersection of law and policy, and her commitment to how youth can take actionable initiatives to make a difference, and think you will be too. This was the perfect episode for me to close out my time with the Round Table podcast as I am now matriculating at Thea’s alma mater, Harvard College.  I’ve loved getting to speak with our guests, my fellow podcast hosts, and you each week and look forward to catching you on alumni episodes. Thank you for listening!

At this week's Round Table, Emily, Heba, and Kenisha spoke with Evalaurene Jean-Charles, a dedicated educator, advocate, and the CEO & Founder of Black on Black Education, an organization that aims to revolutionize education by promoting student-centered approaches and empowering young people of color to become change agents for change. She is also a 9th grade history teacher in the South Bronx, where she continues to make a profound impact on her students’ lives.

Evalaurene’s remarkable journey in education began as a teacher at an alternative sentencing program in Brooklyn, where she worked as a tutor and workshop provider for students who faced gaps in their education due to incarceration. This experience ignited her passion for educational equity and social justice, leading her to pursue further studies.

Throughout her career, Evalaurene has actively sought opportunities to contribute to the field of education beyond the classroom. She has participated in prestigious programs such as the Vocal Justice Fellowship, where she facilitated curriculum focused on developing students’ public speaking skills in a critical and engaging manner. Additionally, she has been involved in the reDesign K-12 Content Mapping Design Studio, collaborating with multicultural content experts to redefine important and relevant disciplinary content for K-12 education.

Evalaurene’s dedication to sharing her expertise and insights extends beyond her immediate community. She has spoken at numerous conferences, engaging educators and students in conversations about educational equity, social justice, and empowering young people of color. Her contributions to the field have been recognized and in June 2021, she was honored with the 30 Under 30 Award, which recognizes emerging leaders of Caribbean heritage who demonstrate exceptional commitment and engagement in their professional, academic, or personal pursuits.

With her combination of hands-on teaching experience, academic expertise, and passion for social change, Evalaurene Jean-Charles is doing an incredible job empowering young people of color and transforming education into a more inclusive, student-centered, and equitable space and will inspire you throughout this episode. Thank you for listening!

At this week's Round Table, Emily, Heba, and Ruby spoke with Michael Partis, Executive Director of the Redhook Initiative, a Brooklyn-based organization facilitating social change through education, youth development, and local hiring. His current role builds on his experience running the Bronx Cooperative Development Initiative; the Bronx Brotherhood Project, a college success and mentorship program for Black and Latino teens at the New Settlement College Access Center; and South Bronx Rising Together (SBRT), a “cradle-to-career” initiative, along with his experience as a researcher at Fordham University’s Bronx African American History Project and a professor in the Department of Ethnic Studies at the Borough of Manhattan Community College and Department of Anthropology at Brooklyn College. Yes, be impressed, be very impressed. 

Michael is very focused on how to create generational wealth in black communities and the intersection with educational equity—as are we! We spoke about how the US economy was historically based on coerced labor and people working without compensation—part of a continuing legacy of social policy with negative economic impact and the grounds for race-based reparations today. We acknowledged that the implementation and distribution of reparations is complicated—as all systems are—but that the principle is worthwhile and logical and should be pursued. 

A Society is deeply driven by values and relationships and problems happen when we don’t value people different from ourselves and dominate or control people based on that. This can then bleed into politics and become racism, with a dominant ethnic group distributing resources inequitably. Michael works in education in order to influence redistribution and equity, balancing social vs political efforts for change. 

Understanding the history of how things were formed and how things are organized is critical because when you know how something was built, you have better insight into why things are as they are. The present disparities we experience —and the history of black people being underrepresented —starts with a history of being seen as inferior  carried over with a compounding effect today. 

This of course makes the case for teaching African American Studies—and Michael shared that teaching about and through hip hop is a powerful way to do so—particularly as we celebrate its 50th anniversary this year. He also recommends you check out the Bronx African American History Project oral history archives here. We closed with Michael’s words of inspiration and empowerment to youth which you won’t want to miss. Thank you for listening! 

At this week's Round Table, Emily, Erina, Jack, and Skyla spoke with Sumayyah Rose, the founder of What In the World (WITW). WITW is a publication dedicated to breaking down the news for young people and being a space for them to share thoughts and opinions as well as reflections about culture that young people need to know about because of the relevance it has on today’s world. Having been involved in politics with other youth her entire life, Sumayyah realized that she wanted to build this platform as a way to empower youth to share their opinions, thoughts, experiences, and stories to ensure that our voices are heard and acknowledged. 

Sumayyah shared the process of choosing what to write about, and how she works to ensure that there is no bias and that the information presented is accurate and the sources are reliable. She shared how challenging the work has been since when she was starting out, the majority of the work was done by her. She inspired us by sharing the degree to which intrinsic passion outweighs giving up and by emphasizing the importance of persisting even through hardships. 

As a Brit herself, who currently lives in the U.S, Sumayyah also discussed what she perceives as the cultural, societal, and political stark differences and similarities between Britain and America. It was very eye-opening to hear how similar, yet disparate, these two “sister” nations are.

We had a wonderful conversation about the various ways we can make politics a more welcoming, and less intimidating, topic for youth as well as how we can break down barriers to young people understanding politics. The fact that politicians, campaigns, and news tend to overlook young people is absolutely not okay and we have to step up and make it clear that young people are NOT apathetic; we are often uninvited. Now lets find out “What in the World” is happening. Thank you for listening!

At this week's Round Table, new podcasters Emily and Heba joined Jack and Skyla to speak with Brianna Carmen, political director at Emerge. Emerge is the nation's premier organization that recruits and trains Democratic women to run for office. At Emerge, Brianna not only gets to work through partners at the local state and national level, but also develops strategies for operationalizing all of their training. She has helped Emerge support 1,200+ alums currently in public office and has helped register 600,000 voters, with a focus on youth.

Being raised along the U.S-Mexico border in El Paso, Brianna saw firsthand a community that was impacted by many key issues yet lacked widespread voter participation and political power needed to address them. Her life experiences in an underrepresented community shaped her passion for being involved in large-scale impactful work.

With Gen Z demographically being the most racial and ethnically diverse constituency in most communities, Brianna feels that youth today possess the widest arrays of perspectives and ideas to resolve ongoing issues. She shared with us that “Having more women who are Democrats elected into office will lead to better policies because they are the folks who are dealing with these challenges every day. So why shouldn’t they have a seat at the table to change it?” She is very committed to debunking the myth that young activists don't have the experience or networks to be successful on the campaign trail. Towards this end, Emerge is working hard to both encourage Gen Z to run AND to set them up for success on the campaign trail. This is our 200th podcast episode ( !) and we are grateful to you for listening!rge is the nation's premier organization that recruits and trains Democratic women to run for office.

At this week's Round Table, Erina, Jack, and Kenisha spoke with Elena Waidmann, a rising fifth year graduate student in the lab of Dr. Erich Jarvis at Rockefeller University, who studies the neural and genetic mechanisms underlying mouse vocalizations. From participating in a neuroscience program through the Center for Talented Youth during high school to studying the neurological facial recognition processes of macaque monkeys in a lab at the National Institutes of Mental Health, Elena shared how all of her experiences have shaped her lifelong love of neuroscience. As a graduate student, she has learned the value of balancing and prioritizing various tasks because of the numerous projects she simultaneously works on. Everyday is different which keeps Elena on her toes as she is constantly surrounded by cutting edge research!

We learned about the relevance Elena’s research places on the advancement of gene editing, such as the FOXP2 gene for humans who have trouble producing speech, and the degree to which the research she conducts on mice can be DIRECTLY applied to humans. She also walked us through common misconceptions that individuals have in terms of animal communication systems, such as people underestimating non-primates and overestimating other primates. 

Neuroscience intersects with MANY other fields of study and has a direct application to our everyday lives. If you or someone else you know are in high school and are interested in learning more about this exciting field of study, apply to the Summer Neuroscience Program at Rockefeller University in New York City. Applications open up in January 2024 for the Summer of 2024 cycle. Thank you for listening!

At this week's Round Table, Jack, Kenisha, and Maya spoke with Rachel Roseberry, the Associate Director of Young Adult Program and Services at The New York Public Library (NYPL), about the vital role libraries play in community building and civic education as well as the various opportunities there are to get involved in breaking literacy barriers. The NYPL is a civic space where people can gather to learn from not just through the books and resources available at the library, but also through each other. At the NYPL, Rachel oversees team programming, such as College & Career Pathways programming, summer programming for teens, and the Teen Civics Ambassadors program that exists across all 89 library branches in the five boroughs. 

Being constantly surrounded in educational spaces, Rachel has found a real home in libraries for the exact type of work she loves doing. She loves the inclusivity and accessibility libraries offer to everyone, with every library uniquely inhabiting the culture and history of the communities they serve. Libraries are indispensable to not just the development of children, but also to the democratic growth of communities. Thus, we should utilize the library as a place we can live, learn, and cultivate our ever-growing curiosity.

Next time you find yourself near a library, head inside to be welcomed to a constantly inclusive environment with enriching opportunities and an engaging community of individuals. Whether you are a teen who loves science or an adult who loves the arts, you will be opened up to various opportunities to get involved at the New York Public Library. Thank you for listening!

At a recent Round Table, Jack, Kenisha, Maya, and Skyla spoke with each other celebrated and reflected on the bittersweet end to their four memorable years of high school. Attending high schools in different locations--and heading off to Harvard, Yale, Stanford, and Amherst respectively--they discussed what made each of their high school experiences unique AND what made them similar. Something very intriguing that was brought up was the idea of connections–that is, there are so many people we come in contact with who we discover some kind of surprising connection with, creating a sense that our big worlds can actually be quite small.  This makes them all feel extra excited about the wide array of opportunities that await them at college to network and interact with individuals from many different backgrounds. 

They were also very open with each other–and you, our listeners–in voicing concerns they have related to their upcoming college experiences and what they will mean to the sense of community they've felt in their lives leading up to now. They also spoke about how the pandemic has led to even more hyper-competitiveness about admission to prestigious colleges and universities, increasing competition between peers to always be on top of everyone else and even to try to bring others down–something they badly want to counteract. They also, of course, shared concerns about legacy admissions and race-based affirmative action as they speculated about what the recent ruling of the Supreme Court will mean for prospective college applicants. By ending the systematic consideration of race in the college admissions process, they know that educational disparities and inequity will increase.

Throughout this reflective conversation, as they look ahead into college and beyond, they spoke about the skills, lessons, and significant values they will take away from high school as they start a new and exciting chapter of their lives. Over the last four years, they have learned to make peace with “failure,” to not compare themselves with others, and to demonstrate resilience–mindsets they will apply to the beginnings of their post-secondary education. Congratulations to the CLASS OF 2023 and thanks for listening!