Our Mission
I Am Why brings young women and gender expansive activists together with researchers and other partners to increase young activists’ individual and collective power. By celebrating their strengths and sharing their stories and visions for justice, young people lead the way to policies, practices and programs that work.
Our Approach
I Am Why centers young activists in all our work using three approaches:
- A methodology that is authentic, connecting young activists’ narratives to policy and practice;
- Communications tools and opportunities that clarify issues, reframe solutions and model shared power; and
- Movement building through young women’s direct engagement with systems we aim to change.
Our History
In April 2018, eight young women and gender expansive activists gathered for a two-day workshop in New York City to express their strengths and visions for power and justice through photographic portraits and creative writing. The energy, siblinghood and power created through that workshop was a major first step toward achieving I Am Why’s two broad goals:
- Building and implementing a model that expands the power and policy reach of young women and gender expansive activists; and
- Influencing policy and practice to center self-determination and justice and align with the vision of young activist consultants.
Since 2018, I Am Why has held many workshops across the country and grown into a national collective of young women and gender expansive consultants who host webinars, provide professional mentorship, curate art exhibits, advocate for policy change, and have even published their very own art and social justice book. Our consultants work in teams and are nurtured through I Am Why’s model of nested peer and intergenerational mentorship. Through our eight teams—communications, curatorial, curriculum, marketing/social media, motherhood, planning, racial justice, and research/evaluation—I Am Why develops priorities and implements activities that are authentic and meaningful to young activists, and aim to catalyze a power shift and change policy.
Staff
Alondra Aragon
Program Manager | Location: San Francisco, CA
Alondra Aragon is a neplanterx, mother, community organizer, and a land caretaker rooted and blooming in Yelamu. Organizing since she was 15, Alondra has dedicated over a decade of labor to working with the environmental and youth justice movements. She is committed to a just transition by growing healthy food, restoring local ecosystems, practicing herbal healing traditions, providing job training, and sharing her expertise with the community.
Samantha Cortez
Social Media & Art Manager, Speak On Us/Self-Advocacy Pod Co-Lead | Location: Bronx, NY
Samantha is a Puerto Rican-Nicaraguan American based in NYC. She’s not just an artist; her work delves into a spectrum of emotions and thoughts of her day-to-day life as a woman in the diaspora, growing up in the streets of New York City. In Brooklyn, at 16 years old, she was accepted into the Youth Speakers Institute, which trained her to be a dynamic public speaker advocating for justice reform. At 17, she participated in Artistic Noise (AN) and joined their Arts & Entrepreneurship program. Before joining AN, her life was deeply impacted by the behavioral health system of New York City and various parts of Westchester. She advocates for behavioral health reform and embraces imperfections, mistakes, and errors as sources of strength for self-growth, inspiration, and community building. Samantha utilizes the artistic growth gained at AN in her I Am Why role.
At six months pregnant during the pandemic, she moved to Puerto Rico. While living there, she became informed about the colonial status that Puerto Rico was under and became an activist for their independence. By utilizing skills gained at AN and I Am Why, she birthed and founded the movement Tato Sigue, using art to raise awareness of the modern-day colony of Puerto Rico. Samantha is a lead of IMPACT (Invincible Mamas Pushing Action and Change Together), a national alliance network centered on young mothers building collective power with a focus on actively advocating for change within their communities. She is the 2024 Alumni Artist-in-Residence at Artistic Noise and works with them on various projects.
I Am Why Activists
La’Nesha Baldwin
Restorative Practice and Project Management Consultant | Location: American Unincorporated
La’Nesha was born and raised in Chicago. She began her journey of activism as a teen with A Long Walk Home, where her connection with I Am Why came to be. She is a social worker focusing on expanding support in the mental health community, but she didn’t stop there. She is versatile in her reach of the communities she supports. She believes that healing begins with what we put into our bodies, and the energy that is consumed around each of us. She plans to one day share that love and belief through her own cooking and restorative practices coaching business. La’Nesha is an optimist: She believes there is ALWAYS a possibility and opportunity to make things happen right on time for yourself and others.
TK Cross
Reproductive Justice/Motherhood Pod Co-Lead | Location: Oakland, California
Elizabeth De Jesus
Location: Portland, Oregon
Mel Harris
Location: Jacksonville, Florida
Mel was born in Harlem, NY and lives in Jacksonville, FL. I Am Why has been an extraordinary experience for her. She has learned about women from different walks of life and, more importantly, learned a lot about herself. As an I Am Why consultant, Mel has watched the organization grow in ways she couldn’t imagine—from it being a discussion to putting together workshops to publishing a book—and she is extremely excited to see where it will go. Mel has spent her time under I Am Why helping the work move along while helping to facilitate trainings and meetings. Going forward Mel will continue to support I Am Why while using her resources in her community.
Mirah Marcus-Garcia
Embrace Creative Freedom Pod Lead, Speak On Us/Self-Advocacy Pod Co-Lead | Location: Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo, New Mexico
Puwanini Tsawa; Blue Butterfly Ts’an T’en Po’a’a; New Winters Journey
Elmirah Marcus-Garcia is a young leader and advocate for young parents from the tribal nation known as Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo, New Mexico. Being born with hypothyroidism to a single mother who was trying to navigate the Indian Health Service presented a challenging childhood. While going through the educational system, Elmirah was often placed in a “particular” education program yet never adequately diagnosed with learning disorders. In later elementary school, a pattern of being referred to counseling for depression began, though a proper diagnosis was never given for this either. After becoming pregnant at 18, and knowing a healthcare system that had already failed her as a child, Elmirah didn’t want the system to let down her son.
Elmirah sought prenatal care through a free-standing non-profit birth center that uses traditional styles of birthing, including home birth practices. After having her children on the reservation in her grandparent’s home, she slowly worked towards speaking up for those young parents who experienced gaps in healthcare. Elmirah works as a Young Parent Advocate for Birth of My Heart Birthplace while consulting for I Am Why. Within I Am Why, Elmirah leads the Embracing Creative Freedom pod, is a co-lead for the Speak On Us/Self-Advocacy pod, and participates in the Reproductive Justice/Motherhood pod. During her time with I Am Why, she has stepped into her leadership on numerous occasions, such as accepting the role of co-leading the Speak On Us/Self-Advocacy pod. She has also achieved one of her dreams of being a published writer by producing blogs on the I Am Why website.
Dynasty Wynn-Bowen
Location: Wichita, Kansas
Aliyah Young
Policy and Research Consultant | Location: Chicago, Illinois
Aliyah is a Chicago-born activist and youth advocate. She holds a bachelor’s degree in anthropology, African and Black Diaspora Studies, and Latin American and Latino Studies. She is currently pursuing her master’s in history at DePaul University. She will soon pursue an additional master’s in Information Studies with a concentration in Archives and Cultural Heritage Management. She is passionate about equity and restorative justice and enjoys interrogating and challenging hegemonic historical narratives. She currently serves as I Am Why’s Policy and Research Consultant.
Advisors
Lauren Adelman
Arts Education Advisor | Location: Beacon, New York
Lauren is an artist, educator, collaborator, and mother based in Beacon, NY. She is a consultant for projects within the field of social justice, abolition, youth leadership, and the arts, most specifically I Am Why. She co-founded Artistic Noise first in Boston in 2001 and then in New York in 2008. As a social practice visual artist Lauren works in community with others to create transformative spaces and experiences. Lauren believes deeply that the stories we tell through visual media can create the change needed to build a world where we can all thrive. Lauren has taught and led community-based art projects in many varied settings including schools, museums, detention centers, and community organizations both nationally and internationally. She received a BFA from The School of The Museum of Fine Arts and an MA in Arts Education from NYU. Lauren’s own studio practice explores environmental and social issues through printmaking, drawing, installation, and animation.
Annie Balck
Policy and Research Advisor | Location: Reston, Virginia
Annie is an independent consultant with deep expertise in areas of youth legal system reform and girls and young women involved in the youth legal system. She has also worked on a variety of projects related to the child welfare system, special education and disability rights. Through her consulting work, Annie helps her clients develop research, strategy and messaging to support their specific reform goals and to create systems that are equitable, just and effective. She conducts in-depth secondary research and analysis, writes and edits research-based content, and mentors developing researchers and writers. Over her 20-year career, Annie has written and contributed to nearly 30 policy papers, reports and research summaries for clients including The Annie E. Casey Foundation; Justice and Joy National Collaborative; Center on Gender Justice and Opportunity at Georgetown Law Center; John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; National Association of Counsel for Children; Justice System Partners; National Youth Justice Network; and Justice Policy Institute. Annie co-authored the seminal 2015 report, Gender Injustice: System-Level Juvenile Justice Reforms for Girls with I Am Why founder and president Francine Sherman. Annie has been an advisor and mentor at I Am Why since 2018, working with young people on issues related to research, writing, messaging, strategy and policy reform. She is licensed as an attorney in Washington, D.C. and Michigan, and has a Juris Doctor from Georgetown University Law School and a Bachelor of Arts in English from University of Michigan. Annie lives in northern Virginia with her husband, four children and dog.
Felicia Mosley Smith
Restorative Practice Advisor | Location : New York, New York
Felicia is a mother of two, leadership coach and licensed clinical social worker with more than 15 years of experience in the field of youth and young adult justice. Felicia came to I Am Why with deep commitment and passion to uplift young women and mothers affected by child welfare and legal systems. Felicia currently serves as associate executive director for Youth Justice Network, an organization focused on providing opportunities to young adults during and after their time in New York City jails. During her career, she’s held various positions in clinical settings, educational spaces and community-based settings in New York City focused on advocating for young people and families impacted by systems. She is a licensed trainer with the International Institute for Restorative Practices and has previously taught at the Hunter School of Social Work as an adjunct professor. Felicia received her Bachelor of Science from Temple University and Master of Social Work from the University of Connecticut.
Board of Directors
Chanelle Elaine
Chanelle Elaine is a Social Impact Producer, working in community with filmmakers, activists and philanthropists committed to cultural and social transformation. Founder of CreativeBionics, Chanelle has produced videos, live and virtual events for the Novo, Ford, Gates and Surdna foundations, Grantmakers for Girls of Color, Black Girls Freedom Fund, Black Feminist Fund, the Women’s March on Washington, President Obama’s Tribal Nations and Generation Indigenous Youth conferences, Women and Justice Project, plus many other organizations committed to equality and diversity.
CreativeBionics’ collaboration in the fall of 2020 with Supermajority, the largest female-led political organization in the nation, was the live production Supercharge 2020. A virtual event focused on energizing the electorate, it was successful in registering over 150,000 voters leading up to the 2020 election. It included special appearances by Vice-President Kamala Harris, Senator Elizabeth Warren, Rep. Ayanna Pressley, Dolores Huerta, Eva Longoria and many, many others. Chanelle’s first feature, First Match, is a Netflix Original and winner of the SXSW Audience and LUNA Gamechanger awards.
Chanelle is also honored to have been a fellow within Sundance, SFFilm, Independent Filmmaker Project, Tribeca All Access, and Film Independent institutions and was a Dean’s Fellow at Columbia University, where she received her Master of Fine Arts.
Xochtil Larios
Xochtil Larios is a 22-year-old full-time college student and 2018 recipient of the California Endowment 2018 Youth Award as a Community Champion. She served as the youngest fellow of the Peer-to-Peer Initiative through the Community Justice Network for Youth Program of the Burns Institute in 2018. She is also a vital youth commissioner on the Alameda County Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention Commission.
As CURYJ’s youth justice program associate, Ms. Larios brings her own innovative Youth Transformation Curriculum to detained youth offenders, and is a respected researcher and advisor in the Dream Beyond Bars’ justice system transformation recommendations. Ms. Larios is also a consultant for the I Am Why national policy and art project that connects young women’s experiences to research on policy, practice and programs that work. In addition to serving on I Am Why’s board, she is co-lead of the curatorial team and is a valuable member of the curriculum team, helping to design an art-making and writing workshop curriculum that is being used nationwide.
Montana Ross
Montana Ross, she/her, was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. As a womanist and woman of color, her activism began with A Long Walk Home. Subsequently, through a collaboration with I Am Why, she experienced an I Am Why workshop and now works with and on its behalf.
Montana is currently a graduate student pursuing her licensure as a clinical mental health counselor (LCPC). While in school she also co-leads I Am Why’s social media. A foundational core to her identity is being an activist; specifically against rape culture and gender-based violence, and in support of dance, the arts and healthy/safe and enjoyable sexual health. So there’s no surprise that she intends on gaining her Psy. D. and contributing to the counseling field’s theories on adolescent girls of color and sexual health.
Francine T. Sherman
Founder and President | Location: Newton, Massachusetts
Francine is a Clinical Professor Emerita at Boston College Law School where she taught Juvenile Justice and Children’s Rights and Public Policy for over thirty years and where she founded the Juvenile Rights Advocacy Program. She speaks and writes widely about the youth legal system and, in particular, about girls and young women in the legal system. Francine has spoken before Congress and at the White House; served on a U.S. Department of Justice National Advisory Committee on Violence Against Women focusing on children and teens victimized by domestic violence and sexual assault; and as consultant to OJJDP’s National Girls Initiative. Her report, Gender Injustice: System-Level Juvenile Justice Reforms for Girls, provides a comprehensive overview of the needs and pathways of girls into and through the youth legal system and details a developmental approach to current youth legal system reforms. She is also the author of Gender, Justice and Youth Development in the Oxford Handbook of Children and the Law, Juvenile Justice: Advancing Research, Policy and Practice (Wiley & Sons), and “Justice for Girls: Are We Making Progress?” (UCLA Law Review). She regularly consults with national and local foundations and systems on issues related to gender and youth legal systems. She consults with the International Legal Foundation, where she has worked in the West Bank and Myanmar.
Francine is a co-founder of Artistic Noise and, as founder of I Am Why, is incredibly excited about I Am Why’s growth and the power of our young women and gender expansive consultants. She is I Am Why’s photographer and provides research and operations support.
K. Shakira Washington, Ph.D., M.P.A.
K. Shakira Washington, Ph.D. is vice president of advocacy and research at National Crittenton. Dr. Washington has combined community organizing, advocacy and behavioral research to address the social, economic and political inequities faced by marginalized communities with a specific focus and interest in communities of color. Her work has included training and engaging youth and community members in participatory action research (PAR), facilitating discussions between communities most impacted by harmful policies and practices and decision makers, and assisting with the design and implementation of research studies focused on issues such as cancer and HIV/AIDS prevention, and impact of adversity during childhood on individual and community outcomes. Her most recent work has focused on program and policy change for girls, young women and gender expansive youth who have been exposed to various forms of adversity and violence and the challenges they face as a result of these experiences, including youth homelessness, school disconnection and pushout, intergenerational poverty, and juvenile justice and child welfare involvement. Her work is focused on engaging youth as leaders of social change that seeks to shift existing narratives that are antithetical to health and healing. Dr. Washington received her bachelor’s degree in urban studies from San Francisco State University, master’s degree in public administration from New York University, Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service, and her doctorate in behavioral and community health from the University of Maryland, College Park, School of Public Health.
Partners and Funders
A Long Walk Home
Chicago, IL
Artistic Noise
Harlem, NY
Cambridge Family & Children’s Service
Cambridge, MA
CURYJ (Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice)
Oakland, CA
GIFT/Roxbury Youth Works
Roxbury, MA
International Association of Defense Counsel
Massachusetts JDAI (Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative)
Roca, Inc.
Boston, MA
Young Women’s Freedom Center
San Francisco, CA
I Am Why is made possible by the generous support of NoVo Foundation, Tides Foundation, Grantmakers for Girls of Color and Public Welfare Foundation.