CUAH’s Annual Newsletters
CUAH’s 2022 Recap
2022 has been an exciting year for CUAH. Our award-winning social justice incubator, Youth Creating Change (YCC), expanded its nationwide presence with Fellows in New England, New York, Texas, Oregon, Illinois, Virginia, and British Columbia, in addition to our anchor presence in Maryland. Last May, we launched the ground-breaking Social Media for Social Justice (SMSJ) program, which began as a YCC fellowship last year. SMSJ and will go live in January 2023 as a nationwide program to train and mobilize teens to counter online disinformation about women's rights, LGBTQIA+ issues, discrimination and hate, climate change, gun violence, and other social issues. And, we hosted an extraordinary intergenerational dialog on race featuring two former YCC leaders, Grammy-winning musician and race reconciliator Daryl Davis, and former Mississippi KKK Grand Dragon and now race reconciliator Scott Shepard.
Please read about our work and accomplishments in the recap below. As you’ll see, we rely heavily on volunteer support and greatly appreciate each and every individual who has given time to CUAH or YCC. To volunteer, please contact Paul Tiao at info1@cuahmcmd.org.
We also need your financial support to cover YCC grants for our fellows and the four-part training program that Social Media for Social Justice is launching in January 2023. We welcome all levels of donations. Please join CUAH’s sponsors with a generous contribution to support these fantastic programs.
Thank you for your dedication to CUAH’s mission. Stay safe and healthy. We look forward to seeing you in 2023!
CUAH Sponsors Circle
Platinum: Varuni Dayaratna & Paul Tiao, Eden & Marty Durbin, Geoff Galster & Michelle Russo, Lisa & Bill Raisner, Ritu Nayyar-Stone
Gold: St. John’s Episcopal Church at Norwood, Carole & Nick Brand, Aviva & Andrew Goldfarb, Gillian Huebner, Heather & Sean Moran, Aman & Sonny Shergill
Silver: Chevy Chase United Methodist Church, Hon. Karen Britto, Pronita Gupta
YCC 2022-2023
On September 18th, CUAH kicked off its fifth annual Youth Creating Change fellowship program, our student-led social justice incubator that provides organizer training, mentorship, grant funds and public recognition to youth activists around the country. Interested high school and middle schoolers from around the country were joined by Maryland Delegate Julie Palakovich Carr, Montgomery County Board of Education Member Lynne Harris, and YCC leaders, and Fellows. They heard about YCC and learn how to apply for a fellowship.
That led to our largest and most-diverse class of YCC Fellows ever. They hail from New England, New York, Texas, Oregon, Illinois, Virginia, and British Columbia. The Fellows have now completed two-thirds of our nine-part organizer training program, and are getting mentorship in each training from a terrific group of mentors that has grown to include former YCC leaders who are now in college or beyond.
2022-23 YCC Kickoff Interest Meeting
Social Media for Social Justice
On May 22nd, CUAH’s Social Media for Social Justice program (SMSJ) held an information session to introduce teens to online activism and encourage them to take action to counter online disinformation. The event featured a panel discussion and breakout groups to show students how they can develop skills necessary to address environment/climate, LGBTQIA+ issues, race and equity, student mental health, asylum and immigration issues, voter engagement, gun violence, and other issues.
Developed jointly by YCC fellows and CUAH leaders, SMSJ is hosting four online workshops in early 2023 featuring social media activists, national disinformation experts, and subject matter experts on various social issues. Student attendees will earn Student Service Learning hours. Here are details on the first workshop:
Sunday, Jan. 22nd at 3 – 5 pm ET: Introduction to the Power of Social Media, featuring the following speakers:
o Ben Scott, Reset
o Imram Ahmed, Center for Countering Digital Hate
o Lola Nordlinger, University of Michigan Student
o Rewan Al-Haddad, SomeOfUs
o YCC and SMSJ Student Leaders
o Trish Gac, Facilitator
Register for this workshop at: Meeting Registration - Zoom
The subsequent three workshops will take place on the following dates:
· Sunday, Feb. 26th at 3 – 5 pm ET: Creating Your Social Media Profile & Presence
· Sunday, Mar. 5th at 3 – 5 pm ET: Who Can You Trust?
· Sunday, Mar. 12th at 3 – 5 pm ET: Finding the Right Place & Approach to Get Engaged
YCC 2021-2022
Last year, Youth Creating Change received the highest number of applications in the program’s history, and selected 45 Fellows for the program. The 2021-22 Fellows completed trainings to help them create initiatives to tackle a wide range of social problems, including climate change, excessive use of plastics, the educational opportunity gap, LGBTQ+ rights, ESOL gaps, immigrants’ rights, racial discrimination, and other issues. YCC also found leadership opportunities for fellows who did not come in with projects of their own, placing ten in the following established programs:
· Students to End Poverty
· Capital Compost
· Social Media for Social Justice
· DCPT Restorative Justice Program
· OCA-DC Asian American Advocates
YCC hosted its annual Social Change Conference in April of 2022 where student activists came together to put on three panels about the work they've been doing on climate change, educational equity, and uplifting communities. There were over 125 registrants for the three webinar panels featuring student leaders, Maryland Delegates Emily Shetty and Jared Solomon, and Montgomery County student leader Baba Cisse with a special welcome from Board of Education Member Lynne Harris.
Watch the Climate Change Panel
Watch the Educational Equity Panel
Watch the Uplifting Communities Panel
Kudos to the YCC Board for their outstanding work with the 2021-22 class, including Aaron Tiao, Sonya Rashkovan, Tara Davoodi, Brandon Sookoo, Sadhana Gupta-Pateriya, Jack Claus, and Lily O’Hanlon. Thank you so very much to the YCC Mentors who worked directly with Fellows during the YCC Trainings, including: John Wambach, Lynne Harris, Robin Lombard, Trish Gac, Kerri Valencia, Audrey Meigs, Kristin O'Keefe, Paul Tiao, Debra Budiani-Saberi, Andria Chatmon, Gillian Huebner, Jan McNamara, Stephanie Clark, and Jamie Lok. Extra special thanks to MCPS music teacher John Wambach, who serves as the chair of CUAH’s Schools Committee and provides incredible support and mentorship to the YCC leadership team through the year.
Intergenerational Dialog on Addressing Extremism and Finding Hope
In March of this year, CUAH hosted an intergenerational dialog on addressing extremism and finding hope, featuring Grammy-winning musician, author, and race reconciliator Daryl Davis, former Mississippi KKK Grand Dragon and now well-known anti-racism activist Scott Shepard, 2020 YCC President Olivia Gyapong, and YCC Co-Founder Simon Debesai.
CUAH is a nonprofit organization that unites our diverse community to combat bigotry, support victims of hate, and promote inclusiveness in the Washington DC metro area and beyond.
We are committed to combating hate crimes, bigotry, and discrimination based on race, religion, nationality, ethnicity, disability, gender, and sexual/gender identity.
Join us by signing up here!
CUAH's 2021 Recap
2021 has been a remarkable year in so many ways. Even in the midst of continuing challenges brought on by the pandemic, our program has expanded. We are hosting dynamic intergenerational dialogs about hate, bigotry, the pandemic, and other difficult issues, and our social justice incubator Youth Creating Change has grown dramatically. We are beginning to get noticed for our work too! The Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee recognized CUAH’s contribution to the community at its in-person Fall gala in November, and the Montgomery County Council awarded Youth Creating Change with a citation earlier in the year.
Please read about our work and accomplishments in our recap below. As you’ll see, we rely heavily on volunteer support and greatly appreciate each and every individual who has given time to CUAH or YCC. To volunteer, please contact Paul Tiao at paultiao@gmail.com.
At the same time, we rely on donations to cover Youth Creating Change grants. As you can read below, we have our largest class of YCC Fellows ever, and expect a record amount of YCC grant applications from Fellows all over the country. Can you help us? We welcome all levels of donations. Please help us close out 2021 by joining CUAH’s sponsors with a generous donation to support our amazing YCC Fellows.
Thank you for your dedication to CUAH’s mission. Stay safe and healthy. We look forward to seeing you in the new year!
Paul Tiao President, CUAH
CUAH Sponsors Circle
Platinum: Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP, Varuni Dayaratna & Paul Tiao, Eden & Marty Durbin, Geoff Galster & Michelle Russo, Terry Lierman, Lisa & Bill Raisner
Gold: St. John’s Episcopal Church at Norwood, Women’s Democratic Club, Carole & Nick Brand, Aviva & Andrew Goldfarb, Gillian Huebner, Harminder Kaur, Heather & Sean Moran, Ritu Nayyar-Stone, Aman & Sonny Shergill
Silver: Chevy Chase UMC, OCA-DC Asian American Advocates, Hon. Karen Britto, Aryani Ong, John Wambach, Cohen HP
Dialog on Moving Forward in a Divided Land
On February 17, CUAH hosted the virtual dialog: "Where Do We Go From Here? Moving Forward in a Divided Land." This intergenerational dialog featured speaker Daryl Davis, award-winning musician, race reconciliator, and author of The Klan Whisperer, and Shamil Idriss, CEO of Search for Common Ground, the world’s largest peace-building organization. Blake HS senior Olivia Gyapong, President of YCC, and Einstein HS senior Luca Utterwulghe, YCC Grassroots Organizer Training Co-Chair, moderated the dialog. Daryl and Shamil provided a roadmap for how we, as a country, must go forward as we reckon with hyper-partisanship, political and social violence, racial injustice, and the breakdown of social trust. CUAH board member Gillian Huebner led a dynamic post-dialog discussion.
On May 8th, YCC joined up with the DC Peace Team to host a virtual restorative community-building circle for students and adults to share experiences of school during the pandemic and how to move forward in 2021-22.
In September, three members of the 2021-22 class of YCC Fellows selected DC Peace Team for their fellowship projects. They have been working hard for three months with DC Peace Team leaders Debra Budiani-Saberi, Andria Chatmon, Chris Paris, Jamal Jones and Jeri Fields, who are mentoring them as they create programs to support restorative justice practices in their schools and work to cultivate a culture of nonviolence and peacemaking.
Save the evening of January 26, 2022 on your calendar for an intergenerational dialog on hate, racism, and inclusion featuring Daryl Davis, a former KKK member, and Youth Creating Change leaders!
2021 Annual YCC Social Change Conference
YCC Conducted its annual Social Change Conference earlier this year in April. YCC Fellows shared their experiences with taking charge in their communities to combat some of the world's most pressing issues on three panels. The fellows hosted a COVID-19 and poverty panel, a Climate Change panel, and an Equity in Schools and Communities panel facilitated by Einstein HS senior Avery Smedley, Student Member of the Board of Education Hana O'Looney, Youth Activism Project Executive Director Anika Manzoor, and Montgomery County Board of Education Member Lynne Harris.
"Climate Change, Racism, & You": YCC member Audrey Ng presented her experience as Director of Communications of Detox NJ, a youth-led environmental initiative looking to serve disadvantaged communities being exposed to toxic waste from Superfund Sites.
CUAH and Youth Creating Change Expand YCC Mentor Program
During the summer, CUAH and YCC leaders worked hand in hand to expand and strengthen the YCC mentor program. They created a new mentor advisory board, doubled the number of adult mentors, established a new student mentor program, and created a mentor-fellow Slack channel to facilitate mentorship outside of the training environment.
Chaired by the Honorable Lynne Harris, the YCC Mentor Advisory Board meets every other week, at the conclusion of each YCC training. This board includes CUAH Schools Committee Chair John Wambach, and community leaders Jamie Lok, Robin Lombard, Stephanie Clark, Kerri Valencia, and Trish Gac. The board anchors our corps of stalwart YCC mentors who mentor at almost every YCC training, including Kristin O’Keefe, Debra Budiani-Saberi, Andria Chatmon, Audrey Meigs, Jan McNamara, Gillian Huebner, and YCC leaders Aaron Tiao, Sonya Rashkovan, and Sadhana Gupta-Pateriya. These mentors provide essential support to YCC Fellows as they develop their projects, and invaluable feedback to YCC leaders as they make adjustments to the program throughout the fellowship year. Outside of trainings, Fellows and Mentors can communicate with each-other using a YCC Slack channel created during the summer by Brandon Sookoo, co-chair of the YCC Mentor Committee.
CUAH and YCC are always looking for community leaders who are interested in mentoring YCC Fellows during YCC organizer/leadership trainings. In the trainings, YCC Mentors help Fellows apply the classroom principles to their projects during breakout sessions. In advance of each training, YCC provides each mentor with the presentation slides and an opportunity to participate in a dry run of the training. Click Here for More Information.
YCC Fellowship graduates are also serving as mentors to YCC Fellows. Student Mentors must complete a year of YCC trainings and successfully organize a social justice project in their school or community in order to be eligible to take on this role. Click Here for More Information
CUAH Launches 2021-22 Youth Creating Change Program
On September 19th, CUAH kicked off its fourth annual Youth Creating Change fellowship program, our student-led social justice incubator that provides organizer training, mentorship, grant funds and public recognition to youth activists around the country. A record 85 participants joined Montgomery County Board of Education Member Lynne Harris, YCC leaders and Fellows for the interest meeting on September 19th to hear about YCC, and learn how to apply for a fellowship. 2021 Kickoff Interest Meeting
YCC's mission along with its plans for the coming year.
Youth Creating Change – Bigger and Better than Ever
This Fall, Youth Creating Change received the highest number of applications in the program’s history, and selected 45 Fellows for the program. Since then, YCC has completed the first five of its nine-part organizer/leadership training series (YCC Training Schedule 21-22).
The 2021-22 YCC fellows are tackling a wide range of social problems, including: climate change, excessive use of plastics, educational opportunity gap, LGBTQ+ rights, ESOL gaps, immigrants’ rights, racial discrimination, and other issues. YCC also found leadership opportunities for fellows who did not come in with projects of their own, placing ten in the following established programs:
· Students to End Poverty
· Capital Compost
· Social Media for Social Justice
· DCPT Restorative Justice Program
· OCA-DC Asian American Advocates
Kudos to the YCC Board for their outstanding work this Fall, including Aaron Tiao, Sonya Rashkovan, Tara Davoodi, Brandon Sookoo, Sadhana Gupta-Pateriya, Jack Claus, and Lily O’Hanlon. Special thanks to MCPS music teacher John Wambach, who serves as the chair of CUAH’s Schools Committee and provides incredible support and mentorship to the YCC leadership team through the year.
We expect a record number of grant applications in the spring of 2022, so please donate to CUAH to help us support these amazing young leaders of today and tomorrow!
CUAH is a nonprofit organization that unites our diverse community to combat bigotry, support victims of hate, and promote inclusiveness in the Washington DC metro area and beyond.
We are committed to combating hate crimes, bigotry, and discrimination based on race, religion, nationality, ethnicity, disability, gender, and sexual/gender identity.
Join us by signing up here!
CUAH’s 2020 Newsletter
THIS SPRING:
In April, CUAH held a Town Hall moderated by CUAH President Paul Tiao to stop COVID-related hate in response to the explosion of anti-Asian and anti-Jewish hate incidents nationwide due to the pandemic. Speakers included Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh, Maryland State Senator Susan Lee, Montgomery County Office of Human Rights Director Jim Stowe, APA Community Leader Judge Chung Pak, CUAH Senior Advisor Aryani Ong and ADL Senior Associate Regional Director Meredith Weisel
(4/24) CUAH Town Hall Webinar: Stop COVID-Related Hate
In May, CUAH President, Paul Tiao participated as a panelist in a conversation held by Interfaith Council of Metropolitan Washington. He spoke alongside community and faith leaders about breaking down stereotypes.
CUAH and YCC participated in the Annual Unity Walk, virtual this year and also sponsored by the Interfaith Council of Metropolitan Washington, which features day-long programming and brings together thousands from all faiths and backgrounds in a sign of solidarity and hope.
In June, CUAH held two town halls to hear what our government officials and legislators, as well as community leaders in Maryland, are doing to stop police brutality. The first panel included reports from Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh, Montgomery County Police Chief Marcus Jones, Montgomery County Sheriff Darren Popkin, Montgomery County Council Member Nancy Navarro, Montgomery County Council Member Will Jawando and various community leaders.
(6/10) CUAH Town Hall Webinar: Stop Police Brutality in MoCo
The second panel, included US Senator Chris Van Hollen, Maryland State Senator and Chair of the Maryland Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee Will Smith, Maryland Delegate Gabe Acevero, Montgomery County Council Member Tom Hucker, Executive Director of the ACLU of Maryland Dana Vickers Shelley and Silver Spring Justice Coalition spokesperson Tiffany Kelly. Both panels were moderated by CUAH President Paul Tiao.
(6/25) CUAH Town Hall Webinar: Legislative Solutions to Stop Police Brutality
THIS SUMMER:
In May and June, YCC took its annual Social Change Conference online by utilizing its Instagram (@cuah.ycc) to organize a Month of Social Change. Fellows who would have normally presented to hundreds of Montgomery County residents instead sent in videos, pictures, and descriptions of their work, which we posted on our Instagram.
In addition YCC organized panels led by MD Delegate Jared Solomon, MC President Dr. DeRionne Pollard and Board of Education VP Brenda Wolff on Sparking Discussions, Social Group Empowerment and Advocacy and the Opportunity Gap, respectively. Our panelists included a number of YCC Fellows representing a host of projects including MoCo Pride, Valentia, MoCo on Climate, Youtheoria, Brooks Codes and more.
THIS FALL:
YCC opened the 8-part training series in October with training on topics including: Goal Setting and Action Planning, Managing an Effective Team, Social Media Best Practices/The Hard Ask, Creating an Effective Call to Action, and Advocacy and Electoral Engagement. YCC Fellows really benefit from the trainings, connections with our wonderful YCC mentors and then organizational documents they complete in breakout sessions.
