Training the Next Generation of Civil Rights Leaders
Contact: Rachel Johnson/ [email protected]
BALTIMORE (JANUARY 25, 2019) – National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s (NAACP) launched its pilot Next Generation (NEXTGEN) Young Professional Leadership Program in 2018. NEXTGEN is a 12-month, internal leadership development training program for young adults between ages 21 and 35. Participants receive comprehensive leadership and advocacy training in order to develop leadership competencies that will enable them to become effective civil rights leaders. Training topics include NAACP branch compliance and operations, fundraising, ethics in leadership, public speaking, community mobilization and Get Out the Vote (GOTV), criminal and environmental justice and intergenerational relations. The inaugural class launched with 150 participants in January 2018 and concluded in December 2018 with a total of 68 leaders that successfully completed their graduation requirements. Graduates completed in-person trainings, webinars, action plans, case studies and interactive projects utilizing web-based training portals, instruction manuals, and resource toolkits. NEXTGEN Graduates are actively involved in their local Branches as Subscribing Life Members of the NAACP. The 2018 NEXTGEN Graduates will be recognized during the NAACP 110th National Convention in Detroit, MI.
“The graduates in this program were already impressive leaders!” said Derrick Johnson, NAACP President, and CEO. “Several are leading some of our local branches and are well-respected leaders in their respective communities, but our goal was to invest in their talents and passion for civil rights, and to harness their collective power to advance the work of the NAACP.”Participants completed assignments between trainings that include evaluating and “leaning in” with their local NAACP units, as well as developing and implementing voter engagement plans prior to the 2018 mid-term election.
“We are building an army of highly trained activists, prepared to deliver on the mission of the NAACP, which is to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate race-based discrimination,” said Leon Russell, Chairman of the NAACP’s Board of Directors. “The face of the NAACP is changing, and it’s younger, technologically savvy, college educated and refreshingly impatient with progress. These are exciting times for the NAACP!”
“The curriculum was developed to provide each participant with the tools needed to become effective leaders in their local communities,” said Akosua Ali, President of the D.C. NAACP, National Board Member and co-founder of the NEXTGEN training. “The NAACP has always had a strong Youth & College Division and an amazing convening of prominent young professional leaders through Leadership 500 (L500). Now this training will complete the pipeline necessary to further cultivate and train the change makers of tomorrow.”
2018 NEXTGEN Graduates
CALIFORNIA
- Jeridel Banks
- Kailin Scott
- Roquel Crutcher
CONNECTICUT
DC
- Brittany Calloway
- Carmel Henry
- Rikki O’Reilly Jones
- Solomon Waller
FLORIDA
- Valerie Cambridge
- Daniella Pierre
- Vanessa Toolsie
GEORGIA
ILLINOIS
- Jonathan Jackson
- Roy Mazuchowski
- Jessica Thomas
INDIANA
IOWA
KENTUCKY
LOUISIANA
MARYLAND
- Yanet Amanuel
- Najee Bailey
- Charnell Ferguson
- Seema Kazmi
MASSACHUSETTS
- Zane Crute
- Ayanna Polk
- Maya Saunders
MICHIGAN
MINNESOTA
- Leslie Redmond
- Classie Dudley
MISSISSIPPI
NEVADA
NEW JERSEY
- Ashton Burrell
- Yolanda Melville
- Calvin Pierce II
- Kerwin Webb
NEW YORK
- Robert Blue
- Kanasha Blue
- Anthony Ellis
- Althema Goodson
- Jessica Harrison
- Robyn Liverpool
- LaShanda Myers
- Candace Prince-Modeste
- Shanelle Washington
NORTH CAROLINA
- LaKeisha Brown
- Clarence Hunt
- Dawna Jones
OHIO
- Kayla Griffin
- Ronisha Jordan
- Danielle Sydnor
OKLAHOMA
SOUTH CAROLINA
TENNESSEE
- Ebony Capshaw
- April Ricks
- Christy Turner
TEXAS
- Tevin Ellis
- Brandy Fields
- Porschia Harris
- Jessica Reyes
- Jalyce Taylor
VIRGINIA
- Kenny Boddye
- Ricquitta Lomax
- Tavorise Marks
- Zoel Stackhouse
WASHINGTON
WISCONSIN
Nextgen Scholars Of Excellence
The NEXTGEN Scholars of Excellence are a special cohort of the NAACP Next Generation Young Professional Leadership Training Program that successfully completed the 2018 NEXTGEN Program and are committed to completing a specialty track to continue more extensive leadership training in 2019.
ALASKA
DC
NEW YORK
NORTH CAROLINA
VIRGINIA
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