Equal Justice Works’ Post

In December 2000, the Baltimore Sun featured Gov. Wes Moore , a local student who had just received a Rhodes Scholarship. The same paper also covered the story of four young men involved in a botched robbery that resulted in the death of a police officer. One of the suspects, named #WesMoore, shared an unsettling connection with Governor Moore. Governor Moore read the story of the robbery, the manhunt, and the trial to its conclusion. After the trial, he felt compelled to reach out to the other Wes Moore, now serving a life sentence. Governor Moore’s curiosity in his letter tentatively sought to answer some questions such as: Who are you? How did this happen? Why did you do what you did? What went wrong in your life? Reflecting on their parallel lives, Governor Moore's memoir, “The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates” sheds light on the impact of systemic racism on young Black men, emphasizing the importance of mentorship, investments in community, and programs aimed at disrupting the school-to-pipeline. As I read Gov. Wes Moore ‘s memoir, I remembered my days interning with the District Attorney of Baltimore City’s Major Investigative Crime Unit. During my internship, I saw first-hand how some kids were destined for prison from birth. Governor Moore, a kid from Baltimore, could have turned out to be a gang member if not of his mother’s effort to provide him opportunities (private school and later encouraging him to enlist in the Army as a way out of the hood). Fundamentally, this story is about two black boys from the hood, each on their own journey and searching for help. One of them received it; the other didn't. And now the world stands witness to the results. Small interactions and acts of kindness can mean the difference between failure and success, pain and pleasure, or becoming who we loathe or love to become. As #educators, #policymakers, and #community members, we more impactful than we realize. We make the difference between a kid becoming a #RhodesScholar or a kid serving a life sentence. Given this starting point, I urge you who have read this message to internalize the meaning of this remarkable story, and unleash your own power of mentorship in a kid’s life today. #wesmoore #mentor #literacy #education #schooltoprisonpipeline

We're excited to announce that applications for our Annual Scales of Justice Scholarship are now open! We know how expensive it is to go to college, so we created our scholarship to help students offset these costs. We are privileged to do our part to help the leaders of tomorrow. Learn more and apply at https://lnkd.in/ghK8hRFF. #scholarship #lawfirm #georgialawyer #georgialawfirm

Great tips from a Project Management alumni! Thanks Jake Sacher!

"This fellowship has introduced me to myriad ways to bring together my interests in federal and state #policy research, program design and devaluation, and collaboration with community partners and other stakeholders." Learn more about Lara Markovitz and her #fellowship experience in her 2024 SRCD State Policy Fellow Spotlight: https://bit.ly/41UjxX4 #research #fellow #StatePolicy

At McKendree, our students not only benefit from amazing academic experiences, but also have the opportunity to be involved in clubs and student organizations that allow them to explore their interests and passions. Check out our latest blog post for the top 4 reasons you should get involved on campus! https://ow.ly/2lJW50QKV4R #McKendree

I had a great visit to Saint Leo University in Saint Leo, Florida, about 50 minutes from Tampa. It's a Benedictine university of 2400 students on campus and 13,000 virtual students. It's a very beautiful campus with Mediterranean Spanish architecture, and I'm told that House Beautiful ranked Saint Leo in the top 20 for top dorm rooms in the country. The top five majors here are Biology, Criminal Justice, Psychology, Computer Science, and Management. The Criminal Justice program here seems very robust. I met a professor from the department who had tons of enthusiasm and years of experience working in The Hague as an attorney. There's an actual crime scene house on campus where faculty lead students through simulated crime scenes. We were told other faculty members had a similar level of prior experience in the field. Students transition from the simulated environment to an internship with a county, state or federal agency by second semester sophomore year. There are 3 tracks within the major: Homeland Security, Terrorism, and Legal Studies. Additionally, the state of Florida gave Saint Leo University $1 million for a state-of-the-art robotics lab, and it really was impressive. They also have an amazing avatar program they use via Zoom, integrating it into many academic programs to give students a chance to role play, whether they're nursing students learning how to talk with patients and families in various situations, or business students practicing interview skills. This is a place where professors know every student by name, and the ones I met truly love teaching and truly care. I didn't get a strong religious vibe at all, and was told that there are no formal religious organizations of any kind on campus. They said, "We don't teach because you're Catholic. We teach because we're Catholic," which reinforced for me the idea that education is a vocation for those who work here. #saintleo #collegeadmissions #collegeplanning

Here it is! No longer waiting in the wings, I am so excited to announce the official launch of The Jaguar Athenaeum (Atha-nee-um). Wow, it has been a long time coming. I began this project, or, I should say, the idea of this project, a little before freshmen year. I knew that I wanted to complete my Girl Scouts of the USA Girl Scout Gold Award. Girl Scouts had always been a place that taught me that my age didn't determine if I could create incredible, and impactful, projects. As my love for the arts grew, as well as my passion for leadership, management, and graphic design, I knew I wanted to create something to help today's, and hopefully tomorrow's, youth. As a child, and even now, as a teenager, I hear all too often to just "wait until you're older". People didn't take my ideas seriously, even when I presented them in that manner, merely because of my age. Now, in high school, I face a similar challenge. Despite the internet and thousands upon thousands of articles, blog posts, YouTube videos, and more, I felt lost and confused trying to figure out a timeline for my high school career. I was tired of spending hours trying to find even the smallest of information that was relevant to me. It was exhausting---and as someone who has spent their free time doing deep dives into jobs and careers from age 10, that's saying something. Eventually, I started to toy with the idea of creating what would soon become the Athenaeum. After a year of research, of figuring out how in the world I would do it, I created The Jaguar Athenaeum club. There is so much I could say about the Athenaeum, and about the incredibly dedicated and talented team that made it a possibility, but I'll just say this: The Jaguar Athenaeum was created to connect youth in the arts, locally, and eventually beyond, not only to each other, but to the industry. In the age of connection, of information, we refined it to create a handbook to act as a mentor to artistic hopefuls in written, visual, and performative arts. To provide opportunity and knowledge for zero cost, available to everyone, everywhere. We weren't sure if it was possible. This was our pilot issue, our way to test if we would be able to pull something like this off. We did. And we're only just getting started. Thank you to everyone who made this project possible, you deserve the world. Stay tuned for more updates, and please show this post, or our website, https://lnkd.in/ei8pHwQY to any creative you know. We can only help artists if they know we are a resource they can use.

Perhaps I'm just ignorant, but what and where and when is Diversity Equality and Inclusion relevant? Let's start with admittance and grades for QC courses. In my day those who scored the required SAT scores and had the required average in Highschool were accepted into QC. There was no discrimination. Just numbers. Everyone else could go to QCC and matriculate into QC for their Junior year. Diversity irrelevant. Equality, everyone got an equal opportunity, Inclusion standards were color blind and ethnic neutral. Now lets look at Main St. Flushing 1970 compared to today. Back then Diversity in all races and religions. Equality was go into a store with money and you got what you wanted. Inclusion All were welcome. Today's Main St. Flushing. 100% Asian language. 100% Asian business owned. What happened to Diversity? What's concerning is when the people in charge program AI. The one source of programming will end the 1st amendment. Then obviously old uninformed people like me will just have to accept the infallible explanations. Oh well. I guess the truth checkers will make it all right.

This D.C. Policy Center D.C. Voices on high school attendance is a special one, from our summer intern, Blake Saddler, who just graduated from DCPS. 🙌 Read below for Blake's analysis and what he heard from the education community on this topic!

Whether you’re a decade into your career or just starting post-secondary education, there is always something to learn from taking risks and trying new things. For those of you who know me personally, you know how much I love and value the co-op program at Waterloo. The experiences and people I’ve met throughout these last five years have shaped me into the person I am today- professionally and personally. Check out this short piece I wrote about diversifying work experiences throughout my co-op journey: https://lnkd.in/gYwuuJcH