Citizen Schools Co-Sponsors the Bay Area Leadership and Social Justice Conference

Citizen Schools California Talent Team

On Sunday, October 16th, Citizen Schools proudly co-sponsored the Bay Area Leadership and SocialJustice Conference for the second year in a row. The event took place on the campus of University of California Berkeley and sought to empower Bay Area College students, by giving them an opportunity to network and build the skills necessary to make positive changes on their campuses. Students from more than six different colleges and universities, including Stanford University, Sonoma State University, and Santa Clara University, come together to network with leaders in the Bay Area.

The keynote speakers Braham Ahmad, the founder of Peoples Grocery and Oakland’s mayor Jean Quan, a Berkeley Alumni and the first Asian American female mayor of a major city in the US. The speakers addressed this year’s theme of “Moving from Passion to Action". The keynotes spoke to the young leaders about the importance of standing firm in their beliefs and maintaining a strong support system.

This conference provided Citizen Schools with the opportunity to reach out to students who are unfamiliar with our program and engage those who were excited in the opportunity to teach middle school students their passion. A nursing student at Holy Names University, Megan Allen, was excited when she learned that she could teach a healthy living nursing class to our sixth graders in Oakland. As was Komal Ahmad, a senior at UC Berkeley, who founded a student groups that aims to educate students about healthy eating and cooking. He quickly signed up to become a Citizen Teacher and asked when to expect an email about volunteer opportunities.

As an organization Citizen Schools aims to give our students access to some of the brightest and most dedicated volunteers and educators.  This conference allowed college students access to an organization that works every day turning passion into action. Holly Przybyla, the Campus Recruitment Manager for California, sat on an educational pathways panel to discuss the opportunities and benefits Citizen Schools provides to middle school students all over the nation. She also introduced the new certification program through REACH Institute, that gives Teaching Fellows the opportunity to earn a teaching credentials. Simultaneously, Sean Diaz, a second year Teaching Fellow in Oakland, CA attended an alumni panel and discussed his experience and how Citizen Schools has helped him develop as a leader and educator.