By MARISOL AGUILAR CONTRERAS | Programme Coordinador
For the fourth edition of the Young Antiracist Leadership Project (YALP), we launched the call for applications from May 20th to June 23th, 2024. During the launch, we invited participants from the previous three cohorts to share their experiences and inspire young people between the ages of 18 and 29 to apply for this edition through social media platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and Twitter (now X).
Fortunately, we received over 60 applications, showcasing innovative projects and the participation of foreign residents in Mexico. Selecting the final 10 young finalists proved to be a challenge, as the applicants demonstrated strong preparation, and each year the projects become more competitive and creative.
We did the second phase of selection, which involved interviewing the 15 most relevant candidates. From these interviews, we will select the 10 participants who will be part of the fourth cohort.
Following the selection process, we will meet with the finalists to notify them of their acceptance and to share the activities they would engage in during the two-week residency. Additionally, we will conduct a social media launch one week before the project's start, introducing the fourth cohort with photographs and profiles so that the public could get to know the participants.
YALP 2024 will take place from July 29 to August 10, in a semi-hybrid format. The first week was entirely virtual to facilitate the participation of instructors located in other states or countries. Among the virtual classes, we were fortunate to have the participation of activists and academics specializing in antiracism, such as Andrea Ixchíu, Ochy Curiel, Alejandro Mamani (a member of Identidad Marrón in Argentina), Carla Escoffié, Fe Navarrete, among others. The second week was held in person, thanks to support that covered travel, accommodation, and expenses for the fourth cohort. During the in-person week, various educational activities and presentations took place, with classes held at different locations throughout Mexico City, such as COLMEX, Nike, Netflix, among others.
Building on the experience of our previous three cohorts, this year we also focused on the mental health of the participants, primarily due to the nature of the topics related to racism and the need to dismantle colonial learning. Uriel Valadéz, a psychologist and participant in the second edition of YALP, played a crucial role in providing emotional support during the two weeks of the residency.
Currently, the mentorship process is underway, which involves supporting the projects developed by the participants during the residency. For five months, specialized professionals will provide guidance to the participants to help them carry out their projects.
Links:
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
Support this important cause by creating a personalized fundraising page.
Start a Fundraiser