YPAR Academy 2023
Beloved Community’s 2nd Summer YPAR Academy took place virtually from June 12th to June 30th, 2023. Beloved Community curated a three-week program for youth ages 14-18 for participants. It was open nationally; therefore, we had a diverse group. We also had a group of participants who attended our sessions in person!
This year, we introduced mentors to help participants through their research projects. At the end of the program, we held a conference where the participants could give a presentation about the research project they conducted.
E2E were in person in New Orleans during YPAR Academy. The goal of E2E is to adapt, implement, and evaluate a multi-component sociopolitical development enrichment and empowerment program to prevent and reduce exposure to police violence among younger African American youth (10-17 years) through youth-led grassroots organizing and activism for social and structural change.
To conclude the Academy, we held a virtual conference for the YPAResearchers to share their findings from their summer research projects. An aspect of PAR is making research accessible and community-based. Therefore, the YPAResearchers turned their data into an accessible presentation. The goal of the virtual conference was to provide an opportunity for participants to practice sharing their research to the public.