SIP Wishlist for 2022-2023
Dear Friends of the Social Innovation Program,
Below you'll find the locally urgent and globally relevant issues our 9th & 10th graders will be tackling every Friday afternoon this coming school year. Nested under each topic are the types of people we hope our students can have the pleasure of meeting.
We hope students end the year having constructed an informed response to the essential questions listed next to each topic. Towards this, we curate a roster of field trip hosts and campus guests for each team that values people for a diversity of reasons—lived experience, personal identity, academic expertise, professional background, and more. Growth happens when students reconcile their own vision for the world with the (sometimes unexpected!) opinions and experiences of others. Striving for equity and inclusivity, we provide partners with FAQs and info about our opt-in stipend. At this time we are crossing our fingers for as many in-person interactions as possible.
Do you know someone who'd be willing to meet our students? Or an organization we should check out? Please share your leads with me and our new Social Innovation Program coordinator, Gabi Carrillo at gcarrillo@sequoyahschool.org.
Gabi and I look forward to stewarding introductions and getting visits on the calendar once I'm back from some tech-free time this month.
RJ Sakai
Director of Social Innovation
Co-Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion
Access to higher education – What needs to be done to ensure that every person in Southern California has a prosperous and fulfilling life after high school?
Student or professor at a vocational or trade school, or other job training program
College employee that provides students with support and resources
Working student that is paying their own way through college
Government employee or advocate working on financial aid and college affordability
Employee at an organization that increases low income students' access to college
Aging LGBTQ+ population – What policies and services need to be in place to help our region's aging LGBTQ+ population live a dignified life surrounded by caring people?
Someone who is 65 years or older, is LGBTQ+, and is willing to share about their life
Healthcare professional that works specifically with seniors and/or people who are LGBTQ+
City or county employee supporting seniors and/or people who are LGBTQ+
Lawyer that focuses on discrimination
Someone doing work related to housing affordability
Historian of LGBTQ+ history
Water Capture and Treatment – How does our water infrastructure need to change to ensure the good health of people, animals, and plants in our region?
Civil engineer who designs water infrastructure
Professor who studies drought, water pollution, or native flora and fauna
Landscape designer
Someone who can speak about the role of county measures and bonds
Racism in the Outdoors – What needs to be done to help Black, Indigenous, and People of Color feel a stronger sense of belonging in nature?
Someone who is Black, Indigenous, Latinx, or Person of Color who is willing to share about their experience hiking, camping, and/or being in the outdoors
Employee of an outdoor brand that's focusing on diversifying representation of people in nature
Legislator making the outdoors more accessible and inclusive
Employee of US Forest Service or National Park Service
Mental or physical healthcare provider that works with communities of color
Wealth Inequality – What is the best way to remedy wealth gaps between the poorest and richest residents of Los Angeles County?
Psychologist who can expand on stressors associated with poverty
Someone who has experience with cooperative businesses, community land trusts, and/or other alternative forms of wealth redistribution
Financial planner
Worker or business owner who is willing to talk about their relationship to the minimum wage
Someone who is willing to talk about their journey going from the 99% to the 1%, or vice versa
Future of Policing – What needs to be done to create and sustain nurturing neighborhoods that are free from violent crime and excessive force?
Police officer or other law enforcement agent
Professor studying policing, community safety, criminal justice
Someone who is willing to share about their experience with Beyond the Bell, Summer Night Lights, or other gang prevention and youth development programs
Someone who is involved in efforts to reform, defund, or abolish the police
Safe Mobility – What needs to change to make our streets safer for people who walk, bus, and ride bikes?
Urban planner, especially one focused on mobility
Someone who works on transportation policy and legislation
Someone who takes pride in not owning a car in Los Angeles
Drivers education teacher
Employee of Metro or other public transportation agency
Endangered Habitats and Species – What's the best way to conserve local biodiversity in the face of overexploitation?
Someone who is indigenous and willing to speak to indigenous understandings of nature, including White Sage
Ranger for County Parks, California State Parks, National Forest Service, or National Park Service
Legislator or advocate working to conserve nature
Professor who studies endangered species and local ecosystems
