Who We Are
The Center for Youth and Community Leadership in Education (CYCLE) at Roger Williams University partners with youth, families, educators, and other stakeholders to build collective power and fight for educational justice.
Building the schools our communities deserve requires collective power derived from shared leadership and trusting relationships between youth, families, and educators. Educational justice requires the prioritization of the needs, vision, and influence of those most impacted by the lack of democracy, dollars, and dignity in our current public education system—namely, youth and families of color, low-income communities, and oftentimes frontline educators and school staff.
CYCLE's Value Proposition
Strategic partners working alongside communities to build the power, knowledge, and organizational capacity to co-create solutions for educational justice.
We do this by:
Leadership development and community building with youth, families, organizations, and systems partners so power-building outlasts any single campaign
Building, and where needed directly supporting, organizing and campaign strategy that grows community power
Generating community-driven research and data, and connecting it to the partnerships and networks needed to take real action
We envision a future when public schools are centers of strength for the communities they’re in.
What Our Teams Do
Organizing Strategy & Training
The Organizing Strategy & Training Team provides essential skills training, coaching, and technical assistance to a diverse array of stakeholders. The tools and support we provide help organizations secure policy solutions designed to bring about greater Democracy, Dollars, and Dignity for public education.
Research & Learning
CYCLE’s Research and Learning Team focuses on research that supports youth and families to fight for more equitable and just schools. The R&L directly conduct research and analysis to inform community organizing campaigns often through Critical Participatory Action Research projects that provide training, tools, and support for youth and their families.
Youth Leadership
The Youth Leadership Team focuses on developing youth leaders engaged in social justice work throughout New England. Our Youth Leadership programming adopts a collaborative approach in partnering with organizations and includes training, coaching, and thought partnership to navigate challenges relevant to youth leadership, development, and organizing.
“imagine while we build, always both”