In our 2013 Field Scan, PFF and Funders’ Collaborative on Youth Organizing (FCYO) outlined the many obstacles that hindered the advancement and progress of Connecticut’s youth-led social change field. BLOC was designed in an effort to address and challenge these obstacles in a cohort-based, multi-year learning model that brought a number of different organizations together to build their ability to successfully participate in youth organizing and transform the landscape on a statewide level.

The Co-Design Team introduces themselves to the second Cohort.

This past June, the second cohort officially launched, and the participating partner organizations are Blue Hills Civic Association, Citywide Youth Coalition, Make the Road CT, PREST, and Uplifting a Life. In addition to the selected organization, three members of organizations that are alumni of the first BLOC cohort are part of the dynamic and multi-talented Co-Design Team, Lucas Codognolla of Connecticut Students for a Dream, Yanitza Cubilette of Hearing Youth Voices, and Sarana Beik of Grow Hartford. In addition, Chiedza Rodriguez is an integral part of the team as Field-Building Fellow.

Through participation in the BLOC initiative, the long-term goal of BLOC is to nurture an interconnected movement of strong and effective youth organizing groups engaged in campaigns that address root causes of injustice and inequity in their communities. Keep scrolling to see pictures from the Launch event and our recent Retreat!

 

The BLOC Retreat was held at The Watershed Center in Upstate New York.