Connecting the dots between experience and research
Explore and download
Our work is grounded in research and organized around five guiding developmental principles: rights, leadership, self-determination, relationships and identity. See how these principles can help guide us as we work to reimagine systems.
Explore and download
Our work is grounded in research and organized around five guiding developmental principles: Rights, leadership, self-determination, relationships and identity. See how these principles can help guide us as we work to reimagine systems.
I Am Why’s Mentorship Model: A Nested Ecosystem of Intergenerational Learning and Growth
I Am Why’s Mentorship Model: A Nested Ecosystem of Intergenerational Learning and Growth
This white paper is the result of rigorous research and a deep commitment to advancing mentorship practices. It underscores I Am Why’s dedication to engaging individuals at all stages of their careers, fostering an environment where everyone, regardless of age or experience, can teach and learn. It presents I Am Why’s unique approach to mentorship, which focuses on professional mentorship of transitional-age (17-26) young women and gender-expansive young people, particularly youth of color.
Research: Qualitative and Quantitative Research Connects Narratives and Experience to Policy.
Gender Injustice: System-Level Juvenile Justice Reforms for Girls (Sherman & Balck)
A comprehensive report on girls in the juvenile justice system that underscores deeply rooted, systemic gender injustice. The report’s findings confirm that despite progress in juvenile justice, girls are disproportionately arrested, formally processed, detained, and incarcerated in the juvenile justice system for offenses that pose little or no threat to public safety. The report calls for an end to criminalizing girls’ behavior and an end to girls’ incarceration. It calls for investment in communities, and in trauma-informed, strengths-based, developmentally-appropriate approaches.
RIGHTS: When opportunity and respect are guaranteed, young women are able to reach their full potential.
The Right to an Equitable Education
See how this understanding of rights can help us rethink education.
LEADERSHIP: Young women who have lived injustice know how to shape change.
Leadership and Social Justice
Find out how leadership is nurtured through social justice activism.
SELF-DETERMINATION: Respecting and acknowledging a young woman’s expertise in her own life allows her to shape her future.
Self-Determination and Safety
Learn how centering self-determination can help safety take on a new meaning.
Relationships
Identity
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