The ceremony will feature the proposals for improving the lives of community youth co-developed by youth and city government members during the Justice Ambassadors Seminar. The event is graciously hosted in partnership with Columbia World Projects.

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The Justice Ambassador Youth Council (JAYC) is a 12-week social action and life skills-building educational seminar that brings together government officials and 18-25 year-olds — many of whom are legal system impacted or gang-involved — and come from New York City’s most under-served neighborhoods. The JAYC approach is rooted in policy-by-proximity — a model of incorporating the voices and lived experiences of people, especially those who are living through public crises, into policy development conversations with government officials centered around system reform and community change.

At its core, JAYC empowers youth to directly shape policies and community interventions that are intended to support the healthy development of communities. In our learning environment, youth and government officials learn from and alongside one another while engaging in topics like mass incarceration, food and housing insecurity, gun violence, mental health, and prejudicial policing. Each cohort features a diverse group of youth, government leaders, Columbia students, and formerly incarcerated credible mentors.

The ultimate goal of Justice Ambassadors is to co-authored policies that are created from the collaboration of city leaders and young people from throughout the city. By cultivating a broad network of individuals and government agencies dedicated to policy by proximity, JAYC seeks to generate the critical thinking needed to transform the legal system and foster paths toward communal empowerment, safety, and well-being.

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The Justice Ambassadors centralizes three core Stages of Change:

1. Personal — members are introduced to critical life skills for healthy decision-making and encouraged to adopt new ways of achieving justice. Each member completes a personal statement that identifies an aspect of themselves, their community, and/or agency they wish to change.
2. Community — youth conduct group presentations at NYC government offices or community centers to advocate for the implementation of their policy ideas and
3. Social — youth and city officials develop co-authored policy proposals that seek to address societal challenges like gun violence, homelessness, and so on. In sum, the Justice Ambassadors build on the leadership skills of youth and provides them with the opportunity to become drivers of institutional and community change.

Time: 6:00 PM — 8:00 PM EST

Free!

Registration