Peer-to-Peer Empowerment: Students Demand Action’s Chicago Summer Leadership Academy 2024

In 2019, then-college student Marco Vargas had an idea: Bring students together and equip them to become gun violence prevention advocates. Today, we call this program the Summer Leadership Academy. 

College-aged peers in Students Demand Action guide high-schoolers through the week-long program. The goal? Apply what they learned to better their home communities.

These experiential learning opportunities are the fruits of months of labor by our passionate Host City Coordinators. These college-aged interns who joined Students Demand Action from February through July structured an entire program cycle that includes:

• Job training
• Student participant recruitment
• Networking with community partners
• Event planning
• Developing and delivering an educational curriculum

This year’s program was hosted in Chicago, Illinois, during the week of July 22-26. It was led by a team of four stellar students (pictured below from left to right): Juliana Zanubi (DePaul University), LaDeija Kimbrough (Clark Atlanta University, Chicago native), Matthew Jamil (Northwestern University), and Elidia Magaña (University of Chicago).

The team’s curriculum was centered around Asset Based Community Development (ABCD), a place-based organizing model.

The ABCD model creates sustainable improvement for a community by building upon the gifts of its members and local support systems. The core principle of ABCD is seeing communities as co-definers and co-producers of their own health and well-being.

For the Chicago SLA program, the team focused on the community of Southwest Chicago. They did so by recruiting 70% of their participants from that region of the city. The team used the ABCD model by tailoring the curriculum to focus on subjects impacting the local Chicago community. They also brought in partner organizations from around the area so students could hear directly from those with firsthand experiences of the challenges—and strengths—of the Southwest Chicago community.

“The most memorable part of Summer Leadership Academy was our group activities because the environment was very friendly and supportive.”

—Rainee Chow, SLA 2024 Student Participant

The Chicago SLA program included workshops and learning experiences on the following topics:

1. Gun Violence in Chicago and How to Take Action
2. Gentrification’s Connection to Gun Violence in Chicago 
3. Verbal and Written Self-Expression
4. Design Thinking
5. Post-Secondary Success Planning
6. Conflict Resolution 
7. Mental Health and Self-Care

The program began on Monday and laid the foundation for the week. Host City Coordinators and our seven student participants got to know one another through icebreakers. They also established a shared learning environment by creating community norms. Then, participants huddled up with Alison Shih (Everytown Law and Policy) and Students Demand Action volunteers Ellie Barthel and Julia Sun. Participants learned the basics of gun violence prevention and how students are integral to the movement.

Tuesday was truly a tale of two Chicagos. The team spent the morning partnering with Enlace in Little Village. They learned about the many community-minded programs the organization provides to local residents.  They also volunteered in Enlace’s urban garden as part of a service-learning project.

After that, it was back to our program home in the West Loop area. There, the Host City Coordinators taught the students about the history of gentrification in Chicago. The session highlighted the racist and selfish motivations behind the gentrification process. Then, the Host City Coordinators helped students draw connections between that history and the current rates of gun violence in Chicago. 

Wednesday focused on the power of storytelling. Survivor Network Fellows Milagros and Rafael Burgos made a moving visit to SLA. They shared the life story and legacy of their daughter Alexandria Imani Burgos, who was taken by gun violence in 2014.

Inspired by the bravery and openness of the Burgoses, students spent the rest of the day working to express their individual stories. They explored the public narrative concept through the Story of Self, Us, and Now model. Students took part in a written expression workshop led by guest speaker Chris Green of DePaul University and Big Shoulders Books. Green guided the students through the process of drafting collaborative stanzas of poetry. Their words will be published in the digital copy of the book American Gun: A Poem by 100 Chicagoans.

Thursday was a memorable moment for many students—and this might have had something to do with the location! ⚾

Through a partnership with Everytown Culture and Entertainment, the Chicago White Sox graciously invited the Summer Leadership Academy into their home, Guaranteed Rate Field. The White Sox gave SLA participants an exclusive tour of the stadium. 

Afterward, students met with local community organizations, including:

• The League of Women Voters of Chicago,
• Increase the Peace,
• La Casa Norte, and
• The Alliance 98. 

The second part of the day focused on both personal and professional development. White Sox guest speakers Nick Kapetan (Client Service Executive) and Paige Turley (Senior Business Analyst) shared their career paths in the sports industry. They also taught the students some networking tips. 

Then, David Rojas of The Alliance 98 conducted two workshops centered around the concept of design thinking. Participants learned how to work together to solve problems while keeping people at the center of the solutions. Then, they brainstormed how to apply these concepts after finishing the SLA program and in their next phase of life.

Throughout the week, participants developed impact proposals for action projects. Participants use these projects to take their learnings from SLA back to their communities. Action projects are meant to educate and/or activate their peers and community around gun violence prevention.

“Going to the White Sox field, and presenting our pitches felt so real, like we were in a full-on professional conference. Seeing my work, and the work of my peers, was so inspiring and really empowered me. I remember seeing the passion bloom in everyone even more that day.”

—April Garcia, SLA 2024 Student Participant

The SLA program week wrapped up with an “Impact Day” on Friday. All seven participants delivered an elevator pitch of their action project. Then, the group gave them feedback on their proposal concept and on their pitch delivery.

Students came up with project ideas to address various root causes of gun violence in Chicago, including:

• Mental health challenges and barriers to care;
• Food insecurity; and
• Lack of after-school opportunities for youth.

Students at this year’s Summer Leadership Academy rocked it in Chicago. They grew as individuals, learning about:

• Public speaking,
• Community building,
• Self-care,
• Project management, and
• Community outreach.

They spent the week learning about the gun violence prevention movement and how to bring about change in their home communities. And they gained valuable tools as organizers that will serve them well in the days and years to come.

Make a Difference in Your Community

You don’t need a Summer Leadership Academy to be a changemaker. Click here to join Students Demand Action and make a difference in your community!