I Have To Be True To My Roots

It was almost surreal.  I grew up in Jennings, Missouri, less than a mile away from Ferguson.  I was watching TV news, and I knew the street where the killing took place.  It was very emotional, and I began a process of soul-searching.  I started thinking critically about what I wanted to do to make an impact.  I had to ask myself, why am I here when there’s a place I’m much more familiar with that has all these underlying systemic problems?  I have to be true to my roots.  So I came home and founded Social Solutions.
Social Solutions is based in Washington, D.C.  Our mission is to attack the most intractable social problems, and mass incarceration is at the top of our agenda.  Involvement in the criminal justice system creates extra barriers for people who have already experienced barriers from the get go.  We use technology, media, especially social media, design thinking, community forums, civic engagement and activism to achieve our mission.  The basic concept is to crowdsource ideas to come up with local solutions. Our Capitol Innovation Lab will generate, test, and then bring to scale the most promising strategies for reducing the incarceration rate in Washington D.C. by half in five years.  We spread the word through the Capitol Innovation podcast and community forums.  In September 2015, we held our first five-day Social Innovation Festival and brought together an amazing group of organizations and individuals to network and create solutions together.

When I walk down the street in Washington’s African American neighborhoods and see the effects of marginalization and discriminatory policies, it motivates me to fight.  We live in a great society, but it is also very unjust.  We have to face our history, and we have a lot of work to do.  Mike Brown’s death got me passionate about criminal justice reform.  I want to use social enterprise to build a pipeline of opportunity for all.  Learn more about Social Solutions, and our D.C. based initiative- Capitol Innovation at www.capitolinnovation.org 

I am learning so much from the Leading with Convictions training.  JLUSA is helping me think more concretely about how I want to carry out my advocacy work. “Empowering” is the word I would use to describe my experience as a JLUSA fellow.

JustleadershipUSA's Leading with Conviction is a cohort-based, 12-month opportunity for leaders around the country. LwC takes place both in-person and remotely through three in-person forums, six webinars, executive coaching, peer coaching, and regular digital communication.

For more information, please visit:
www.justleadershipusa.org/...

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