Florida International University, Foundation Inc.

If selected as a winner, I would use the Elevate Prize to enhance the work I do as a leader in the Office of Social Justice and Inclusion (OSJI) at Florida International University (FIU). OSJI empowers college students to lead the way in social change, inclusion, justice, and impact initiatives. The funding would be used to elevate Agents of Social Change,  a program designed to recruit, fund, and train up to 40 future advocates for social change in their fields of study and our world. This program will support the unmet financial needs of marginalized students who are interested in making a significant impact as emerging social change agents. Expansive in its approach, the program will draw students from across FIU’s 11 colleges and schools. Building from self-development and social change theory models, OSJI would use prize funds to enhance existing activities such as peer mentoring, social justice training, academic support, and community engagement. This program will engage these students throughout their academic careers and beyond to ensure their success as social justice advocates such as through connections to high-impact civic engagement opportunities. This scholarship and training program will serve as a model for other institutions across the country.

I am a queer, agender, ethnically Jewish, social-justice-oriented Doctor of Social Psychology. As the Associate Director of OSJI’s Pride Center, I focus on three values: (1) supporting and empowering people to achieve their goals and dreams; (2) enhancing equity and social justice for all; and (3) applying education, technology, and storytelling to inspire social change and personal success. As a queer kid from a conservative, rural upstate New York town, I looked at college as the place where I could be myself. College also provided me with the opportunity to determine my ability to affect change. I met with the college president to advocate for gender-inclusive restrooms and free HIV testing on campus. I also organized a protest to support high school students who were prevented by administrators from forming a Gay-Straight Alliance. Today, I am committed to creating spaces for students who deserve the privileges I was afforded. Our diverse OSJI team supports and empowers students of multiple marginalized identities and experiences. We hope to provide these students with scholarships and training to further empower them. Our goal is for Agents of Social Change to become the model for generating confident advocates who act with empathy and impact.

Social injustice, discrimination, and hate continue to impact our students, our communities, and the world. Increasing access and affordability in higher education is one way to achieve justice and equity. As a Hispanic Serving and Minority Serving institution, FIU provides access to excellence. A top-50 public university Carnegie-designated as “R1” for Very High Research Activity, FIU is also a top performer in advancing social mobility (U.S. News & World Report). Located in an urban environment, FIU serves students who are balancing full- or part-time work, family obligations, and their coursework. Approximately 50% of our undergraduate population receives Pell grant support, and 41% graduate with an average student loan debt of $18,975. Despite these challenges, OSJI at FIU works with hundreds of students from across a spectrum of intersectional backgrounds who desire to take on leadership roles in areas of social justice. Additionally, many of the students we serve have unmet financial needs that prevent them from fully pursuing their passions outside the classroom. This funding would allow students to focus on academic success and social justice work, enhancing their leadership skills and sense of civic engagement throughout the academic journey. OSJI provides the mentorship and training along that journey.

Agents of Social Change is innovative because it begins with the understanding that students already have what it takes to inspire change. College students are often seen as passive consumers of their education who will apply what they learn to the “real world” after college. But the students we work with experience the “real world” every day. They experience social injustice, discrimination, and hate in their own communities, online, and on campus. Our students’ experiences, knowledge, and stories have value. Our program will provide financial access, mentorship, and confidence-building training that empowers students to use their voices to organize for justice in student life and off-campus experiential learning opportunities such as involvement in local, state, and federal politics. At FIU, there are no scholarship-based programs supporting training and opportunities in social justice leadership. To our knowledge, we would be the first to establish such a program in the State University System of Florida. Additionally, programs across the nation that provide mentorship and support for underrepresented students focus primarily on graduation and persistence rates within their fields of study. Our program is unique because it focuses on student success outcomes alongside social justice leadership achievements outside the classroom and beyond graduation.

OSJI positions marginalized students for success in and out of the classroom. Our current 2 academic-based departmental scholarships impact over 113 students. These students achieve higher four-year graduation and retention rates and higher GPAs, and they earn more credit hours than their matched cohort counterparts. These students receive academic scholarships, holistic academic advising, and mentoring from our diverse staff. OSJI also empowers students to become social justice leaders through our trainings and events that reach an average of nearly 5,000 unique students a year. Our events include the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration, the Women Who Lead Conference, the Social Justice Summit, the LGBTQIA+ Pride Celebration, Diversity Day, and Cultural Conversations. Students may choose to attend trainings as part of our social justice programming. Topics include Racial Justice, Intersectionality, LGBTQIA+ Rights and Inclusivity, Grassroots Activism, Immigration Rights, and Environmental Literacy. These programs receive above a 93% rating from students who express increases in their understanding and knowledge of these subject areas. Through their collective experiences with OSJI, our students become confident in and committed to positively impacting the world. We track this impact through the workshops, discussions, and service projects they produce.