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November 26, 2018 | Deeds Digest No. 126
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Hello #Changemakers!
As I write this to you, I am sitting at a conference table along with the 7 (7!) members of our full-time Deeds staff, better known here as "Team Deeds." We are spending time reflecting on the year that is coming to a close behind us and planning on the year ahead.
A year ago, prior to Claudia Yoli, our director of student engagement and organizing, joining our team, we had been doing work with high school and college #Changemakers, but did not yet have any official chapters. Today, thanks to Claudia's efforts, we have 17 chapters at colleges and high schools across the state, most of which are on majority minority campuses. Meanwhile, Lauren Baker, our digital director, has grown our social media following, created an online digital tool-kit for our students to use and helped us build an engaged email audience through creative communication campaigns.
Today, we welcome 3 new full-time members to the team: Ke"Yonna Hall who will lead our curriculum development and training, Andrea Reyes who will coordinate our advocacy and policy trainings across our Deeds chapters and Amber Davis, who will manage our day-to-day operations.
None of this would be possible without your support. Looking back on all we've done since launching 2-1/2 years ago and all that we have planned for the future, I am deeply grateful for all that you have helped us achieve - either because you've taken an action we suggested or because you donated to help us, or both. WE HAVE SO MANY EXCITING PROJECTS ON THE HORIZON! And we hope we've earned your continued support to achieve our goals.
Tomorrow is #GivingTuesday. If you are able, we'd love for you to give any level of support that is comfortable for you, particularly if you are able to make your gift recurring month-to-month, which helps us plan based on a more reliable source of funding. YOU made all that we've done possible! Thank you, in advance, for helping us to galvanize young women across our state and country to be the #Changemakers they hope to become.
Much love,
-wendy
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Being an advocate can mean lots of different things depending on the issue and the change you want to make happen. Being an advocate can be as simple as sharing your personal story to create empathy and understanding, leading to change. This past week, our #Changemakers at UTEP owned their power and testified in front of members of the El Paso County Commissioners Court in support of creating an immigrant services office. For example, Ana Hernandez shared her story as a daughter of immigrants and urged the Court to take action. Read part of her testimony:
“Today I am here asking that the court do the same thing with new incoming immigrants. El Paso is a city known for its empathy, compassion, resilience and most importantly community. As a border community repeatedly affected deeply my federal, and state actions on the subject of immigration, the responsible and proactive thing to do is to help make the idea of an El Paso County Office of New Americans a reality by incorporating already existing work. A place like this would have equipped my parents with the necessary tools to fight for better wages, they would have been able to prepare proactively as opposed to acting in a reactionary state when my mother had been detained, and they would have knowledge about their rights long before I had gone to college. I expect the court to act responsibly and accordingly at a critical time like this and reflect on the values of the El Paso community.”
Sharing your story is just one way you can be an effective advocate. But no matter what means you choose to make change, what matters is that you are engaged, you speak up, you take action -- knowing that every action you take will lead to making a difference for others.
Claudia Yoli Ferla
Director of Student Outreach and Organizing
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This Week's #Changemaker:
Cassandra Levesque
At just 19 years old, this week's #Changemaker has accomplished more in her short life than many ever do -- and she's just getting started.
As a Girl Scout in New Hampshire, Cassandra Levesque first made a name for herself when she took on her state legislature to end child marriage and raise the age of consent. While several lawmakers scoffed that she was only a child (ironic right?), she was able to build enough public support to change the age of marital consent to 16.
Recognizing her gift for making change, and that she was more qualified than some of the current representatives that she'd encountered, Cassandra's next move was to run for office. This year, at just 19 years old, she launched a campaign for State Representative -- AND SHE WON.
Cassandra Levesque is the definition of a #Changemaker. Hopefully, we'll see more young women just like her step up to run in 2020!
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