Rise Up Project

Positive Change T.O. aims to build the capacity of Somali youth to organize around criminal ?legal system reform, so they are able to influence policy decisions that contribute to the overrepresentation of young Somali people in homicides, negative police contacts, and incarceration. The project will assist Somali youth leaders, grounded in their complex identities, to understand the principles of organizing and to commence the construction for the transformation of the justice system. This includes the development of a toolkit that outlines key movement strategies, understanding how to craft and disseminate a digestible message, approaches to building collective power that relies on coalitions and identifying tactics that enable youth to act through their built power, to pressure decision-makers in supporting the specific demands of Somali youth.

Alignment with the 5 Year Strategic Plan: The Rise-Up Project aligns with our strategic plan in the project focuses on developing a strategy to support Somali youth in the Justice system to have more opportunities to reduce entry points into the Justice system.  The project focuses on building youth leaders within the Somali community who have lived experience with the Justice system.  Hence the direct alignment with objective #2 within the strategy to strengthen the leadership capacity of young people with lived experience in the justice system.