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TRANSFORMATIVE JUSTICE EDUCATION

Start:Empowerment brings climate and social-environmental justice education to to over 24 schools and 3,770 students and counting across the United States (including New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Nevada, Texas, California, Michigan, Massachusetts, and more).

 

With deep ties to grassroots organizations, frontline communities, and Indigenous leaders, we form powerful partnerships with educators, schools, and nonprofits.

 

Our adaptable curricula and partnership models are tailored to meet the unique needs of local schools and equip youth and communities of color with green job skills, catalyzing improvements in learning outcomes and fostering the next generation of climate advocates.

Transforming Classrooms: Celia Cruz High School for Music

S:E established a hydroponic gardening program at the Celia Cruz High School in the Bronx to educate students about climate and food justice. We regranted $5,000 to support teacher labor and pay for the greenhouse and hydroponic tent.

 

20+ pounds of microgreens were harvested for distribution to students and staff members to help fight food insecurity by providing easily accessible, nutritious produce in the school community. S:E also provided an engaging Career and Technical Education (CTE) skills-training resource, developing young agro leaders through the teaching of our Food Justice curriculum.  

Four people holding bags of harvested microgreens.
A teacher and students standing over a classroom table covered with pots of microgreens.

Our Unique Approach

We employ a critical consciousness framework to co-create programming alongside youth, educators, activists, and community members, ensuring environmental justice education resonates deeply within public schools. Our curriculum prioritizes long-term education, improved learning outcome, civic engagement, and environmental empowerment, resulting in student-led projects ranging from policy advocacy to school gardens.

Teacher Cohort 

We are working with 15 teachers that are leading the implementation of our environmental justice curriculum in their classroom, we provide stipends, collaborate with teachers to write new lessons, help coordinate field trips, they are giving us feedback to strengthen our curriculum.

 

Application for our next cohort coming summer 2025! 

After School Programming

Whether it's running a food justice program for elementary school students in queens with the connected chef or a middle school environmental justice education cohort in las vegas nevada with our partner CORE or building a corn garden at an elementary school in east austin we invest in creating powerful after school programming for BIPOC youth. 

Summer Youth Employment Program

Since the summer of 2023 we've provided a 6 weeks paid green summer internship for 68 Black and Brown high school students from the Bronx in partnership with NYC gov and CAWS. We have worked on environmental justice campaigns to build civic engagement, advocacy, critical analyses, and green jobs/career skills. We look forward to expanding our programming to other boroughs in summer 2025. 

Work, Learn, and Grow Program

For 6 months of the year, 16-17 year old students attend college courses for credit and receive a paid internship with Start:Empowerment to build skills in their interest areas (media, advocacy, activism, organizing, campaign-building, and more!)

Words From A Happy Teacher

"I have been implementing the Environmental and Climate Justice Curriculum in my Environmental Science classes and I am very impressed that the curriculum is well organized with four separate modules that focuses on specific environmental justice and climate change issues that relate to my students in the Bronx, NY. I am also very impressed with how well curated the curriculum is with four interactive Google Slides presentations filled with informative videos, maps, diagrams and pictures. There are multiple activities with teacher prompts designed to engage the students. I recommend this curriculum to all teachers who want to educate their students about Environmental and Climate Justice!"

- Alex Goasdoue

   Environmental Science Teacher

   High School for Teaching and The Professions 

Alex Goasdoue.
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