A total of 24 Santa Barbara students to will attend Community Leadership Institute (CLI) in Ojai
GOLETA – Just Communities in Santa Barbara is seeking business/corporate or individual sponsors in Santa Barbara County to provide scholarships for students from four Santa Barbara County High Schools – La Cuesta High School, Dos Pueblos High School, San Marcos High School and Santa Barbara High School, the organization reported recently in a media release.
The scholarships are for the Community Leadership Institute, an eight-day residential summer program that trains youth from the Central Coast to be leaders in issues of diversity and justice in their schools and communities. The camp takes place in Ojai in August. A range of students are selected based on their leadership skills and/or potential and receive 48 hours of community service credit.
A $5,000 sponsorship will cover 50 percent of the scholarship money for students at each individual High School. Four sponsorships are needed in total. Local foundations have committed to covering the other half of the cost. Just Communities has engaged a professional public relations firm to ensure your financial support receives the attention it deserves. Sponsors will receive the following recognition: official press release creation and distribution throughout Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties; media interview opportunities; online recognition on Just Communities website, and associated social media; photo/media opportunity with representatives from your organization and scholarship recipients; official plaques for your office as well as school administrative building; personal letters from the students who received scholarships.
At CLI, students will have a unique summer enrichment experience that will prepare them for community and organizational leadership for the rest of their lives, the organization reported. They will leave with enhanced personal character, and greater self-knowledge. CLI increases their ability to stand up to social pressures and to become positive role models with an appreciation for diversity and justice. The training and mentorship they receive will prepare them with awareness needed for academic and professional success as they transition to adulthood and greater independence.
Students are selected several different ways. Some are nominated by a faculty or staff member at their school, some hear from peers who have been through the program, and some hear about it from other organizations that they are involved in. But ANY student who is interested can apply and participate in CLI.
Other participating schools include: Santa Maria (Santa Maria High School, Pioneer Valley High School, and Ernest Righetti High School); Santa Ynez Valley (Santa Ynez Valley Union High School); Carpinteria (Carpinteria High School); Fillmore/Piru (Fillmore High School).
Contact Just Communities at 805-966-2063 to set up a sponsorship or for more information.
Just Communities envisions a Central Coast in which all people are connected, respected and valued. Just Communities advances justice by building leadership, fostering change, and dismantling all forms of prejudice, discrimination and oppression.
Just Communities was established in 2001 as the National Conference for Community and Justice (NCCJ) of California’s Central Coast.
NCCJ was first founded in 1927 as the National Conference of Christians and Jews, a national non-profit organization whose objectives included promoting harmony among different groups, especially those separated by cultural features such as race, poverty, and religion. Prominent founding leaders included Theodore Roosevelt, Jane Addams, Benjamin Cardozo, and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Charles Evan Hughes.