News
GYLI presents at the CBC
By Matt Nink on Oct 12, 2009 a 1:21 PM
GYLI was represented well at the recent Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) Annual Legislative Conference (ALC) in Washington DC. This is one of the largest gatherings of African Americans in the country. Staffers, Matt, Jesse, and Imroz, and board member Kim Bouldin-Jones (see photo) all attended sessions and talked to many, many attendees at the GYLI exhibit booth. The three day event brings together political, business, and non-profit leaders to continue to address some of the biggest challenges we all face.
Matt Nink and Courtney Hurtt (GYLI '06, Michigan State University '11 and GYLI Year Two Coordinator) were named to a panel that spoke at the recent conference. This was a great honor, as the event brings together about 5,000 people from all over the country to address some of our most pressing social problems. Matt and Courtney spoke at the CBC Spouses Event entitled: "Positive Change: How America's Young People Are Moving It Forward." The event was a both the celebration of 3 high school essay contest winners as well as a panel discussion about how young people can spark and sustain civic and community engagement. Drawing from their GYLI experiences, Matt encouraged the youth in attendance to see themselves as leaders NOW, not in some distant future, and Courtney reminded them that no one else was going to pave their way. Courtney spoke about her project in herCBC Picture senior year at Detroit Country Day in which she worked with middle schools students in the inner city of Detroit to help them take and pass the tests to get into the Detroit area Prep schools. "There was no script, or anyone telling me how to do it, so I just had to see this vision through myself," Courtney said. She also spoke about her experiences this past summer working at an AIDS orphanage in South Africa. Matt and Courtney hope to return to the CBC ALC next year to conduct a youth session for the many high school students to attend the event.
Accessed at http://gyli.org on Sep 8, 2010 a 1:41 AM