Our students have moved the Board of Trustees to divest from fossil fuels, and are active in changing state education policy and impacting on affordable housing in San Jose.  Our program focuses intensely on emotional intelligence, self-development and non-violent communication.  Students directly practice their leadership skills and learn self-reflective habits for lifelong organizing for change. 

 Our students have been directly involved in forging community benefits agreements and winning economic justice campaigns that affect their own lives. “When anything is going on with legislation at the state level or locally, we will be in a position where we will be recognized as a power.”

“Being a change agent means having the ability to influence decisions about money and politics. It means building power so our communities aren’t restricted by decisions about these things. Before this program, I did not even know that I was interested in being a social change agent. I did not know that even existed.” 

Students draw from the history of the region, examining race and oppression in America, discovering their roles as agents of change through studying past and present social justice movements, uncovering their own talents and passions, and learning how to use their skills to create the communities and world they want to see.

In New York City we reach low-income women, immigrants, and young men of color who are on the front lines of inequality. We connect the City University of New York (CUNY) and employers in nonprofits and public sector agencies seeking skilled, career-oriented, community-based staff.

Our program recruits students through multiple pathways. We work with community collaborations through organizations and schools to inform others about our program, as well as bring youth to campus for events, conference and institutes. On campus, we recruit students through related programs, social justice movements and activist events with student leaders on campus.

Our students played leadership roles in winning a municipal ID campaign, fighting for a $15 statewide statewide minimum wage and earning sick leave for public and private workers.  Our partnership includes one of the largest community college districts in the country, with Native American Connections, St. Luke’s Health Initiatives and the Center for Neighborhood Leadership representing major community initiatives.

Our partnership began in the cities of Detroit and Dearborn, but in reality the population and immigration patterns in southeast Michigan have created an integrated regional economy…The coming years will shape the Detroit of the future, and in turn impact the metro area. The Community Learning Partnership of Southeast Michigan will contribute to this greater Detroit narrative by shaping the future leaders of this movement.