Out Of The Margins

In this episode of Organizing for Abolition. Envisioning Liberation. we hear from Erin Miles Cloud, co-founder of Movement for Family Power and Joyce McMillan, founder and executive director of Just Making a Change for Families. They share what led them to creating organizations where they could have autonomy to challenge the status quo, and discuss their vision of abolition and the next steps to achieving it. Erin and Joyce also touch on the need for more support,  highlighting the first in-person convening for family policing abolition hosted by upEND Movement. Learn more about JMACforFamilies:JMACforfamilies.orgLinkedInInstagramFacebookTwitterLearn more about MFP:movementforfamilypower.orgInstagramFacebookTwitterMusic by Bre Stoves, "Untold Story" from Care, Not Control (The Album)Learn more about AFF:affund.orgLinkedInInstagramFacebookThis podcast is produced by Sol Design.

In the third episode of Organizing for Abolition. Envisioning Liberation. we hear from Jaime Koppel of Communities for Just Schools Fund and Geoffrey Winder of the Alliance for Educational Justice. They discuss abolition in the context of educational justice, and why dismantling schools’ policing infrastructure, culture and practice is crucial to that justice. Jaime and Geoffrey also touch on why creating the environment for schools to be safe spaces can enable individual students to thrive and lead to the liberation of whole communities. Learn more about our grantee partner, Communities for Just Schools Fund:cjsfund.orgLinkedInInstagramFacebookLearn more about the Alliance for Educational Justice:policefreeschools.orgFacebookMusic by Bre Stoves, "Untold Story" from Care, Not Control (The Album)Learn more about AFF:affund.orgLinkedInInstagramFacebookThis podcast is produced by Sol Design.

In the second episode of Organizing for Abolition. Envisioning Liberation. we hear from Michelle Ruiz and Jayden Huerta of Puente Human Rights Movement in Phoenix, AZ. They discuss their experiences as youth organizers including advocating for the removal of police in schools, educating their community and empowering other students. They also address why police are not the answer to keep students safe and propose a restorative justice approach as an alternative.Learn more about Puente:puenteaz.orgTwitterFacebookInstagramMusic by Bre Stoves, "Untold Story" from Care, Not Control (The Album)Learn more about AFF:affund.orgLinkedInInstagramFacebookThis podcast is produced by Sol Design.

A new season of our podcast kicks off with a brand new series that centers youth in the movement to abolish harmful systems: Organizing for Abolition. Envisioning Liberation. Hosted by AFF Director Mishi Faruqee, each episode in this limited series will feature grantee partners, youth leaders and/or allies who share their visions for community-centered approaches that support youth and families.    In this first episode, we hear from Brenda Gomez and Xochtil Larios of Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice (CURYJ) in Oakland, CA. They discuss their journey from being incarcerated as teenagers and being empowered by CURYJ to their continued evolution as youth leaders in the abolition movement and how CURYJ continues to support young people to #DreamBeyondBars.  Learn more about CURYJ:curyj.orgTwitterFacebookInstagramMusic by Bre Stoves, "Untold Story" from Care, Not Control (The Album)Learn more about AFF:affund.orgLinkedInInstagramFacebookThis podcast is produced by Sol Design.

In this episode of Out Of The Margins, we close our series on what it takes to MANIFEST change with Marcy Mistrett and Billy Harris, previously with the Campaign for Youth Justice. After 15 years of impact, the campaign came to a close on December 31st, 2020. Marcy and Billy speak to us about what it took to achieve substantial wins for the broader field of youth justice and why the work is far from done.Some of these wins include:A 70% drop in youth prosecuted as adults. Changing over 100 laws in 40 states and Washington DC that make it harder to send children to adult court.Narrowing or ending automatic transfer laws in 22 states. Permanently closing the door to the adult system for more than 100,000 children every year by raising the age of criminal responsibility to 18 years old.An update on our guests:Marcy Mistrett is now the Director of Youth Justice at The Sentencing Project. Billy Harris continues to be a Youth Justice Advocate based in California.Learn more about AFF:affund.orgLinkedInInstagramFacebookThis podcast is produced by Sol Design.

In this episode, Alejandra Ruiz of the Youth Engagement Fund (YEF) joins us to discuss the voting power of young people of color. She reflects on the organizing wins of the 2020 election and how YEF is building on that momentum to fight back against new voter suppression laws that have recently been enacted  in battleground states.  Learn more about YEF's 2021 Summer Docket, which lays out its grantmaking strategy that includes multi-year funding  to a cohort of regional, youth of color-led organizations. This episode was recorded in early 2021.Learn more about AFF:affund.orgLinkedInInstagramFacebookThis podcast is produced by Sol Design.

In this very special episode of Out Of The Margins, we discuss the Visionary Freedom Fund (VFF), an initiative launched by the Andrus Family Fund. We speak with members of VFF's Power Table, including one of its youth leaders, to learn about the importance of funding youth-led organizing, the grantmaking process and lessons learned along the way in advance of its inaugural cohort of grant  recipients. Learn more about VFF: affund.org/VisionaryFreedomFundGuests:Jemima Abalogu, VFF Youth LeaderJessica Pierce and Bryan Perlmutter, VFF Project CoordinatorsHosted by Manuela Arciniegas, AFF Director and VFF Philanthropic PartnerLearn more about AFF:affund.orgLinkedInInstagramFacebookThis podcast is produced by Sol Design.

In this episode, Juniperangelica (Gia) Cordova of the Transgender Law Center explains how the organization manifests change through its organizing and advocacy work. She discusses the unique challenges trans youth face, how the trans rights movement intersects with other social justice movements, the importance of building intergenerational power and why the movement should follow the lead of Black trans women and femmes. Read TLC’s community-led demands in the Trans Agenda for Liberation, which lifts up the following pillars:Black Trans Women and Black Trans Femmes Leading and Living FiercelyBeloved HomeIntergenerational Connection and Lifelong CareDefining OurselvesFreedom to ThriveFollow TLC on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.Learn more about AFF:affund.orgLinkedInInstagramFacebookThis podcast is produced by Sol Design.

We continue our series that unpacks what it takes to manifest change. In this episode, we hear from Monica Cordova, Co-Executive Director of Funders' Collaborative on Youth Organizing (FCYO). She discusses the power of youth organizing and why it's critical for philanthropy to support it "in big ways." Plus, we take a look at the field of youth organizing and how it's evolved over the last two decades. Find FCYO's 20th Anniversary resources here. Attend FCYO's upcoming webinar here.Learn more about AFF:affund.orgLinkedInInstagramFacebookThis podcast is produced by Sol Design.

We kick off a new series that unpacks what it takes to manifest change. Our first episode of the series features Anna Gennari, Deputy Director of Foster Youth in Action. She connects the dots between various disruptive systems, and how they intersect with the child welfare system. Additionally, we discuss how youth organizing is the key driver in lifting up the demands of foster youth in order to implement real policy changes across the country.Learn more about AFF:affund.orgLinkedInInstagramFacebookThis podcast is produced by Sol Design.

To close our Dream series, we speak with Jessica Nowlan, Executive Director of the Young Women’s Freedom Center. In this episode, she reflects on her lived experience — from being on the streets and incarcerated to finding sisterhood and stepping into a leadership position at the Young Women’s Freedom Center. Jessica also lifts up the fact that youth have already articulated their vision for transformation, and our work is to support their brilliance and follow their lead as they build power and advance alternatives to incarceration and punishment, and instead, promote investment, healing, economic and political power.Download YWFC’s latest report, Through Their Eyes: Stories of Reflection, Resistance, and Resilience on Juvenile Incarceration from San Francisco Cis and Trans Young Women, Trans Young Men and Gender-Expansive Youth.*This episode was recorded in 2020. Learn more about AFF:affund.orgLinkedInInstagramFacebookThis podcast is produced by Sol Design.

Our Dream series continues with Danielle Sered, Executive Director of Common Justice. In this episode, she unpacks the drivers of violence and how divesting from law enforcement and incarceration has actually made communities safer. By investing in restorative healing, alternatives to incarceration and transformative justice, Common Justice’s radical approach to advance healing and accountability without incarceration centers survivors of crime and builds an entirely new way of addressing and preventing future harm in the community. Common Justice also has a podcast. Listen to it here.Learn more about AFF:affund.orgLinkedInInstagramFacebookThis podcast is produced by Sol Design.

Our Dream series continues with Wakumi Douglas, the co-founder and former executive director of S.O.U.L. Sisters Leadership Collective. In this episode, she reflects on the arduous demands movement work has on directly impacted Black women, girls and gender nonconforming youth; how dismantling the toxic culture of the nonprofit industrial complex is key to advancing healing justice and liberatory practices; and why we must have faith and unconditional love for Black people in order to radically transform our communities.Learn more about AFF:affund.orgLinkedInInstagramFacebookThis podcast is produced by Sol Design.

We continue our series on the importance of making space to dream in the youth justice movement with Francisca Porchas Coronado of Resilient Strategies. In this episode, we'll dig into the subject of healing justice through the lens of indigenous culture, wellbeing and building power. Francisca shares her organizing journey, the importance of addressing trauma and looking for wisdom in our ancestors as well as finding joy in the work as a means to liberation. Out Of The Margins is a podcast of the Andrus Family Fund. Hosted by Manuela Arciniegas, Director of Andrus Family Fund. Theme music by Peace Poets.Learn more about AFF:affund.orgLinkedInInstagramFacebookThis podcast is produced by Sol Design.

In this episode, we asked our grantee partners from Youth First Initiative about their dreams for youth justice, reinvesting in communities of color and reimagining a world without youth prisons. Learn more about AFF:affund.orgLinkedInInstagramFacebookThis podcast is produced by Sol Design.

We conclude our conversation about investing in communities by exploring what equitable outcomes look like and how philanthropy can better invest in community safety.  If you missed the first part of the discussion, go back and listen to part 1 now.Host:Manuela Arciniegas, Andrus Family FundGuests:Jenny Arwade, Communities UnitedDeVone Boggan, Advance PeacePastor Mike McBride, LIVE FREE CampaignZach Norris, Ella Baker CenterThis episode was recorded in September 2020.Learn more about AFF:affund.orgLinkedInInstagramFacebookThis podcast is produced by Sol Design.

What happens when we divest from harmful systems? In our new podcast series, our guests passionately discuss how public and private dollars can be equitably invested in communities. Tune in to hear the first episode of this two-part conversation. Host:Manuela Arciniegas, Andrus Family FundGuests:Jenny Arwade, Communities UnitedDeVone Boggan, Advance PeacePastor Mike McBride, LIVE FREE CampaignZach Norris, Ella Baker CenterThis episode was recorded in September 2020.Learn more about AFF:affund.orgLinkedInInstagramFacebookThis podcast is produced by Sol Design.

To conclude our first series of 2021, our guests break down how divesting from police could enhance safety for communities of color and why philanthropy should shift their funding from reform to abolition. Listen now. Host:Manuela Arciniegas, Andrus Family FundGuests:Anand Subramanian, Policy LinkJoo-Hyun Kang, Communities United for Police ReformLorraine Ramirez, Funders for JusticeThis episode was recorded in 2020.Learn more about AFF:affund.orgLinkedInInstagramFacebookThis podcast is produced by Sol Design.

We kick off our first episode of the year with a series on what it really means when organizers say "defund the police." We're joined by leaders in the movement who dig into topics such as redefining public safety, police accountability, why reform isn't the answer and how divesting funds from law enforcement could impact communities of color.Host:Manuela Arciniegas, Andrus Family FundGuests: Anand Subramanian, Policy LinkJoo-Hyun Kang, Communities United for Police Reform Lorraine Ramirez, Funders for JusticeThis episode was recorded in 2020.Learn more about AFF:affund.orgLinkedInInstagramFacebookThis podcast is produced by Sol Design.

We conclude our conversation with current and former board members about trust-based philanthropy. Tune in to hear them dispel myths that are common in philanthropy and why they urge trustees to let go of control and shift power to grantee partners.   Read the AFF board's recommendations to fellow trustees about how they can show up for racial justice here: affund.org/MeetTheMomentHosted by Manuela Arciniegas, Director of AFFGuests: Lindsey Griffith, Member of AFF Board (Former Chair)Molly Thorpe, Member of AFF Board (Former Chair)Stephanie Cardon, Former Member of AFF Board (Former Vice Chair)Kelly Nowlin, Former Member of AFF Board (Founding Member; Currently serves on Surdna Board)Learn more about AFF:affund.orgLinkedInInstagramFacebookThis podcast is produced by Sol Design.