ACTUALIZE EQUITY, SPARK CREATIVE INQUIRY + RECLAIM THE NARRATIVE.
CORE WORK ::
CREATIVE FACILITATION
adé PROJECT | Highlight Reel
2018 + Beyond – Creative Facilitation:
- We curate cultural performances, artist residencies and [virtual + in-person] community events that spark dialogue about liberation, belonging and how to continue to weave together our stories in the puzzle of our beautiful history.
- We use creative facilitation as a tool for navigating change, strategic planning, and resolving community conflicts and teach this tool to others seeking to form circles as our Afrakan ancestors once did.
- We engage students and professionals in creative inquiry projects that address community needs and hardship.
Big Ups + Wins
27+ clients. 25 sessions.
Awarded GARE grant.
Awarded Z Smith Reynolds grant in partnership with UNC Asheville & ACSF.
Youth facilitation + community facilitation pipeline launched.
CASE STUDY
STORY OF NOW
The format for Me2We is a two-day conference, where students participate in interactive workshops that are planned and led by community youth leaders, most of whom are Me2We alums. Historically, UNC Asheville has been the local hub connecting students to their past, while bringing various segments of our community together to catalyze the development of middle and high school students as change agents in their communities and lives through a leadership + social justice framework.
adé PROJECT: SCOPE OF WORK
Vision + Program Design
Served on Planning Committee alongside other local orgs, community leaders + students. Designed internal structure.
Community Resources, Tables + Artists
Recruited community partners for tabling. Acquired resources + handouts for students. Secured artists for community art projects + creative play.
Facilitator Pipeline + Prep
Secured facilitators for sessions, co-designed training + orientation, and hired + trained the youth speakers.
Artistic Aesthetic
Created vision for the look, tone, and feel of the space. Guided layout process with team of volunteers. Sourced art + supplies to form design + art projects.
STORY OF ORIGIN
There is a rich history of civil rights action in Asheville, NC and this movement was largely led by a group of high school students known as ASCORE (Asheville Student Commission on Racial Equality). Beginning in 1960, ASCORE systematically and peacefully desegregated Asheville’s lunch counters, libraries, pools and parks. In 2012 members of ASCORE began partnering with UNC Asheville Center for Diversity Education and a number of other local organizations to hold annual 2-day summer conferences for youth in the Asheville community. The Me2We Summit was born.
The story + impact.
Following a structure of “past, present, and future” Me2We conferences rely on intergenerational instruction, experiential learning, and near peer mentoring. Participants grasp why civil rights and social justice matter and are able to relate this knowledge to challenges faced in their own lives. Each year the Me2We conference is planned and led in part by youth and is attended by more than 100 high school and middle school students. Past conference themes such as “Rep My City,” “Race Together Toward Racial Unity,” “Intersectionality and Environmental Justice,” “Stay Woke: Knowledge is Power,” and “Finesse the Game of Life” served to connect youth to contemporary struggles both in their community and globally.
- Student-Driven Content – 95%
- EQUITY-FOCUSED CONVERSATIONS + SESSIONS – 77%
- POC PARTICIPATION – 85%
PARTICIPANTS
ADULT MENTORS
YOUTH SPEAKERS
HRS OF ORGANIZING
Why It Matters
Builds Confidence. Creative-rich learning communities provide opportunities for everyone to shine and be seen and appreciated by one another. When people take creative risks and are appreciated by peers and mentors, their confidence jumps. Through repeated opportunities to take creative risks, self-confidence develops quite naturally. Develops Empathy. People drop into empathetic resonance when they hear their peers expressing authentic feelings thru poetry, music and other arts.
Community Needs Require Taking Creative Risk.
Building Confidence Makes Space for Sharing Voice.
Through Creative Facilitation We Model Empathy.
Let’s CREATE + DESIGN TOGETHER. Say Hello!
Drop us a line using the form below to inquire about adé PROJECT Creative Facilitation.