Meet two teenagers from the Chicago Mayor’s Youth Fee

In lots of locations, younger individuals are shut out of governmental decision-making. However in Chicago, a gaggle of youngsters have a seat on the desk, advising the mayor on points starting from public security to neighborhood improvement. 

The 32-member Mayor’s Youth Fee was began by former Mayor Lori Lightfoot within the fall of 2019 and have become a formal advisory physique earlier than she ended her time period. Mayor Brandon Johnson’s transition workforce really helpful making a youth division within the long-term.

Fee members, who vary in ages from 14 to 19, can serve as much as two years and meet at the very least as soon as a month to debate coverage with metropolis leaders and group teams. They obtain a yearly stipend of as much as $500.

This 12 months, the fee launched a New Concepts report, detailing mission proposals from every working group — training, neighborhood improvement, public well being, and public security. The training working group really helpful making a database of postsecondary and employment sources. The group plans to implement this database into the town of Chicago’s My CHI My Future app. 

Some members of the mayor’s youth fee ended their phrases this August. With a brand new mayor in workplace and a brand new spherical of members becoming a member of the fee, Chalkbeat talked with the earlier chair and vice chair of the working group centered on training. 

These interviews have been flippantly edited for size and readability.

Debbie Mojekwu

Debbie Mojekwu, the training working group’s chair for 2022-23, ended her second time period with the fee this month. She hails from the Beverly neighborhood, graduated from Jones Faculty Prep earlier this 12 months, and will probably be attending Yale College this fall.

What are some points within the training system you’re feeling motivated to vary?

I’ve come throughout lots of college students who don’t have as a lot tutorial confidence as they need to, and I really feel like that’s largely in minorities. It has to do with faculties not having sufficient funding and simply not as many sources. 

I genuinely really feel like if somebody took these kids and really believed in them and confirmed that they believed in them by way of having sufficient sources, having lecturers, having counselors and extra areas for them to speak — if we had all this stuff throughout faculties in Chicago, tutorial confidence wouldn’t be an excessive amount of of a difficulty.

It’s by no means simply the kid, it’s additionally on the system.

What particularly made you wish to select the training working group?

I additionally had an absence of educational confidence all through elementary faculty. I actually believed that my intelligence was tied to my pores and skin shade.

There was a time the place I wouldn’t do any of my work, I simply genuinely wouldn’t strive in school as a result of I didn’t see worth in it. And I feel additionally I had this kind of worry that if I attempted and failed, then it might have confirmed my beliefs on the time.

Afterward lastly discovering that tutorial confidence, I spotted how highly effective that might be. And I discovered that in illustration, in my household and different Black leaders that I’ve seen in social media. I might say that that occurred sophomore 12 months of highschool. So I really feel prefer it took a very long time to seek out that.

I started tutoring college students with this program referred to as Chicago Teen Mentors … I got here throughout lots of college students that – you’ll be able to hear it in simply the language they use, that there’s some insecurity there, and hesitance, and worry of being incorrect. 

Being in that area, it form of made me wish to do extra inside training. These college students primarily got here from underfunded faculties, they usually had been predominantly Hispanic and Black. And part of me simply felt, like, I wished to vary that.

What has your expertise being chair of the training working group been like?

It’s genuinely been such a transformative expertise. We’ve gotten to satisfy with so many group leaders, the mayor being one in all them. 

On the finish of the day, I realized they’re simply regular individuals. They’ve the identical fears and anxieties that all of us share. They usually all have some frequent aim in bettering Chicago. 

And dealing alongside the mayor’s youth fee — I see this group being a few of Chicago’s best leaders. I’ve by no means met extra educated individuals in my life than within the Mayor’s Youth Fee. They usually made me wish to study extra in regards to the issues we’ve got in our metropolis and methods to vary.

What’s subsequent for you?

I’m going to Yale. I haven’t deliberate out all my extracurriculars, however I feel I’m going to proceed with internet hosting workshops for youths. I’m a part of this program referred to as Innoverge, we host STEM workshops. I’m a molecular biology main, so I feel lots of my work will probably be with STEM. 

I’ll in all probability discover out extra about New Haven, Connecticut and see what I wish to assist with there. One of many extracurriculars that pursuits me at Yale is you’ll be able to work in a jail, and mainly train programs to prisoners who wish to study.

What’s your recommendation for the subsequent group of individuals on the training working group or on the Youth Fee on the whole?

I might say, simply don’t be afraid to talk up. I really feel like a big a part of my first time period, I by no means actually spoke throughout our conferences and I didn’t converse throughout our roundtable dialogue as a result of I nonetheless had fears about public talking. However if you’re in that area, nobody judges you. Everybody values each single opinion, regardless of how insignificant you suppose it could appear.

Additionally I might say, though the conferences are as soon as a month, you positively ought to make this program a precedence for you. I feel when commissioners don’t actually present as much as conferences they usually don’t actually contribute to the work we’re doing, you’re additionally lacking a chance. So I might say use this chance as greatest as you’ll be able to, and keep up to the mark.

Norah Al-Hallaj

Norah Al-Hallaj served because the vice chair of the training working group for the 2022-23 time period. She’s going to spend one other 12 months advising the mayor in her second time period, although she doesn’t but know her title. Norah is from Bridgeport and is a senior at St. Ignatius Faculty Prep. 

What made you wish to be part of the training working group?

Training has at all times been a giant a part of my life. I like to study. And I’ve been fairly blessed – I attend personal faculty and I’ve for all of my life. I do know that the CPS system will not be the best and there’s lots of areas in Chicago the place training will not be as full as different locations. 

I wished to have the ability to handle that and search for options and work in the direction of permitting individuals to have the identical sources that I had. So it was extra about extending the privileges I’ve had.

What work on the fee are you most pleased with to this point?

This was the primary 12 months we revealed the New Concepts booklet, and we just lately had been capable of get a bodily copy of it, and I felt such pleasure.

It’s one factor to speak in these assembly rooms about plans and listen to everybody else’s concepts, however to see the entire fee come collectively and publish this was only a actually cool course of.

I learn the New Concepts report and I noticed the training working group launched a push for extra postsecondary sources. Are you able to inform me what introduced you to wish to concentrate on that?

All of us form of realized that lots of sources exist, particularly in a giant metropolis like Chicago. And what I imply by sources is internship packages, scholarship alternatives, testing for ACT/ SAT, Widespread App assist, monetary help, that form of factor. 

They usually exist, however the issue was they had been so scattered – particularly on the Web – that college students and fogeys who weren’t aware of the method had lots of bother discovering and accessing this plethora of sources. So we wished to discover a approach to consolidate and create an in depth however very accessible platform for these sources.

What are your priorities for the subsequent 12 months?

My precedence is certainly getting this platform for the sources up and working. I wish to see that within the subsequent couple months. And I additionally wish to focus extra on having city halls for youth voices.

I might like to see (a city corridor) for the school utility course of. Loads of CPS college students actually freak out, as a result of there’s so many youngsters in lots of these faculties – you develop into misplaced in relation to getting assist and getting your questions answered. So I might like to see city halls or panels and precise occasions the place individuals can go and really feel much more assured in themselves strolling out.

What’s the significance of getting youth voices related to the town authorities?

I’m 17, so I can’t vote. And I do know loads of individuals have very clever opinions and views and concepts for metropolis authorities, and make it more practical and higher serving for underage people. 

And the issue with that, is that we will’t vote. We are able to’t attend most metropolis corridor conferences which are held in the course of the faculty day. And that’s the place I see the mayor’s youth fee are available in, the place we will go into our communities and spherical up these opinions and convey them to central authorities.

Max Lubbers is a reporting intern for Chalkbeat Chicago. Contact Max at mlubbers@chalkbeat.org.