Collective Knowledge

mentorship to cultivate BI&POC leadership

About

Mission Statement

Founded by Center for Empowered Politics, Youth Organize! California, and Californians For Justice, Collective Knowledge cultivates Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BI&POC) leadership to sustain our movements in California through mentorship and intergenerational knowledge sharing. By creating reciprocal relationships between mentors and their mentor partners, we cultivate a space where BI&POC can tap into their essence and gifts to lead social change and organize our people.

Motivation

In the present moment, many people are entering their journeys of building political consciousness as overlapping crises make visible the violence of oppressive systems. We’ve witnessed nationwide movements for the abolition of police and prisons, continued Indigenous resistance to pipelines and calls for returning land back to Indigenous communities, and worker strikes against escalating exploitation.

For many young BI&POC staff members in movement organizations, this may be a new and difficult space to navigate, but you don’t have to do it alone. We need our movements to be sustainable and generative, and we view intergenerational relationships and knowledge sharing as a pathway towards that. By knowing our histories and passing on the lessons learned, we can collectively move towards liberation.

Through this program, we hope to strengthen community relationships and grow grassroots resistance to oppression, bringing together the generative energy of our youth and the wisdom of our elders to realize a more just future.

← → 1 of 4

"Having support from someone as knowledgeable as my mentor has been a huge help. I am able to talk out ideas and issues with someone outside my work group and get a perspective that is helping me grow and become a stronger leader in my spaces. In a short hour, my mentor breaks down large topics for me and makes various tools easier to understand so I can be more efficient at work and with my home life."

Mentor Partner, Manager

← → 2 of 4

"I love doing this mentorship program because it allows me to reflect on how I do my work, and we get to go so much deeper and broader than the more skills-focused coaching and support I've offered previously. I feel lucky to be supporting my mentor partner - I'm learning a lot from them and getting to know them better."

Mentor, Director

← → 3 of 4

"Being at the stage and age we are in our careers - we both acknowledged and got the wonderment of seeing the movement work through the eyes of someone at a different place in their journey."

Mentor, Consultant

← → 4 of 4

"Having a mentor look at myself with so much care and validation, forced me to also look at myself that way. Genuine care and esteem for yourself is difficult not to have when someone is so passionate about you."

Mentor Partner, Organizer

Mentorship

Why 'Mentor Partner'

Throughout the program, we will be using ‘mentor partner’ instead of ‘mentee’ to set the intention that these relationships be grounded in reciprocity, where both mentor and mentor partner learn from each other. We hope to begin to disrupt the hierarchical, top-down flow of knowledge. Instead, we would like to acknowledge and practice co-production of knowledge, rooted in lived experience and being in community with one another.

Who Should Apply

Typically, mentor partners are BI&POC staff (ages 18-30) in the first 1-3 years of their role within a movement or social justice organization. Mentorship opportunities are open to staff across all roles: organizers, program, operations, fundraising, communications, etc.

Mentors are generally current or former BI&POC staff of movement organizations who have been in their roles for 3+ years. They hold roles across the organization: organizing, program, operations, fundraising, communications, etc.

Our Intentions

As a newer project, we enter with humility, knowing this will be a learning process for us as well. We recognize that there will be challenges that arise along the way, and we will do our best to address them with care and intentionality. While each mentor relationship is different, we hope to be able to nurture a culture of care, and an environment where both partners are able to learn, heal, and grow with one another.

What to Expect

The program is a 9-month commitment that will typically run from January to September for each cohort year. Mentors and mentor partners will be expected to participate in the following:

  • Opening and closing gatherings that will occur virtually at the start and end of the program
  • Once-a-month virtual or in-person mentorship sessions
  • Optional meet-ups between mentors and/or mentor partners
  • Mentors will also have access to training, community building, and ongoing support as needed

Mentorship will focus on:

  • Self-awareness: knowing your gifts, contributions, and essence
  • Organizational thinking: holding complexity and a broad horizon
  • Leadership & protagonism: making assessments and leading self and others
  • Generative conflict: navigating contradictions and conflict transformation
  • Sustainability: long arc of growth, healing, and collective care

APPLICATIONS FOR THE '23-'24 COHORT ARE DUE ON NOVEMBER 28, 2023.

Organizations of participating individuals

  • AAPI FORCE
  • Alianza Coachella Valley
  • Arab Resource and Organizing Center
  • Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Asian Law Caucus
  • Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA)
  • Asian Pacific Environmental Network
  • AYPAL
  • Bay Resistance
  • Bay Rising
  • Californians for Justice
  • Causa Justa :: Just Cause
  • Central California Environmental Justice Network (CCEJN)
  • Chinese Progressive Association
  • Coaching for Healing, Justice and Liberation
  • CompassPoint
  • El Sol Nec
  • FAJ (Filipino Advocates For Justice)
  • GSA Network
  • Hand-in-Hand, - Domestic Employers Alliance
  • Hmong Innovating Politics (HIP)
  • Homies Unidos
  • Housing Rights Committee of San Francisco
  • InnerCity Struggle
  • Khmer Girls in Action
  • Lavender Phoenix
  • La Peña Cultural Center
  • Mid City CAN
  • PODER
  • Power California
  • Resilient Strategies
  • Restorative Justice for Oakland Youth (RJOY)
  • Richmond District Rising
  • San Francisco Rising
  • Seed the Vote
  • SEIU Local 1
  • South Bay Youth Changemakers
  • The Greenlining Institute
  • Trabajadores Unidos Workers United
  • Viet Rainbow of Orange County
  • VietRISE
  • Young Women's Freedom Center
  • Youth Organize California
  • Youth Together
  • Youth United for Community Action