Sankofa Young Women's/Men's Leadership Program
The CCCADI Youth Pathways: Sankofa Young WOMEN’s and Men’s Leadership Programs Are dedicated to offering support to young Black and Brown TEENAGERS, ages 14-18, as they navigate their self-transformation and lifecycle transition from adolescence to adulthood.
A NEW CHAPTER IN OUR SANKOFA LEADERSHIP PROGrAM!
The Sankofa Young Women’s Leadership Program returns for its fifth installment, and this year, it makes history. For the first time ever, the Sankofa Young Men’s Leadership Program joins the movement, expanding Sankofa’s vision of leadership, growth, and possibility for the next generation.
Sankofa Futures: Time-Traveling Through Archives and Art will afford the youth the opportunity to engage the process of Sankofa (returning to the past to acquire the information to move confidently into the future) using different CCCADI and cultural archives, as they create a future that serves their best and highest collective good.
During this programming year, the Sankofa students will engage in Afrofuturism. as a cultural movement and artistic aesthetic that explores the intersection of Black identity, history, and culture with science, technology, and fiction,
Afrofuturism affords the Sankofa students the opportunity to use art as a natural vehicle to interrogate, capture, imagine, preserve, conserve and project themselves into the future.
PROGRAM dATES & TIMES
Sankofa Young Women's Leadership Program - Tuesdays - 4pm-6pm, from Tuesday January 12, 2027 - Thursday March 25, 2027
Sankofa Young Men's Leadership Program - Thursdays - 4pm-6pm from Thursday January 14, 2027 - Thursday March 25, 2027
To express your interest in participating, fill out the application below.
The Deadline for all applications is Sunday, November 20, 2026.
Students will receive a stipend of $500/per student upon full completion of the program.
Criteria:
High school students ages (14-19 years old)
Able to attend all sessions in person
Able to attend orientation
Identify as a Black or Brown Person of Color
ABOUT
The Sankofa Young Women’s/Men’s Leadership Program, is aimed at identifying young women and men, Black and Brown, of teenage years who, through mentoring, master classes, internships, peer education, and project presentation, will be able to recreate and reclaim and even transform the loss of cultural values caused by and exacerbated by enslavement/colonialism followed by centuries of systemic racism and discrimination. The word Sankofa is an African term meaning, “looking back to look forward.” Thus, the project will seek to spiritually take the participants home to the motherland and allow them to use this new connectivity grounded in arts and culture as a vehicle for addressing racial and social justice issues.
Sankofa (Ghana/Akan): In the spirit of Sankofa, our Akan ancestors believe that the past serves as a guide and is critical for planning the future. In CCCADI’s work of serving children/youth, families, young professionals, elders, local and international artists, and practitioners of African-based spiritual traditions, we are fulfilling this ancestral promise.
ABOUT YOUTH PATHWAYS
An arts education program, Youth Pathways is designed to provide Black and Brown youth with space and opportunity to experience active community engagement and advocacy, cultural empowerment and enrichment, and a connection to a larger global movement. The youth are leaders of our Diasporic community and we seek to amplify their voices and vision for meaningful and impactful social change.
Funding for the Sankofa Young Women’s & Men’s Leadership Program has been provided by: