Change Agents for the Common Good

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2023 In Review

CHANGE AGENT PROGRAM
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MIMI’S
PANTRY
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IMMERSIVE LEARNING
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CIVIC ENGAGEMENT
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RACE TOWARDS RECONCILIATION
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Change Agent Program

Our Impact… over 10,000 students impacted during the 2022-23 academic year…for the common good…

Since the inception of our Change Agent Program in 2013, over 750 collegiate change agents have served with the Institute to work directly with at-risk populations and create tangible change. These efforts have included teaching conflict resolution, anti-bullying, and literacy efforts in Atlanta Public Schools, serving in Mimi’s Pantry, registering college students and neighbors to vote, and other direct actions. These students engage in leadership and social justice training to promote and advance real-world issues.

Lowery Institute Capstone Focuses:

Number of Students - 79

Number of Capstone Teams - 10

Number of Different Universities - 15

  1. Agnes Scott College
  2. Clark Atlanta University
  3. Delaware State University
  4. Edward Waters College
  5. Howard University
  6. Miles College
  7. Morehouse College
  8. Morgan State College
  9. Morris Brown College
  10. Spelman College
  11. Stillman College
  12. Stony Brook College
  13. Tuskegee University
  14. University of Missouri
  15. Virginia Tech

Spring 2023

1. Education:
In the spring of 2023, 10 students from Clark Atlanta University, Spelman College, and Morehouse College served as a part of our Education Capstone team. Led by Lowery Institute Leadership Development Director, Blanche Payne, the team conducted research, examining the challenges preventing eighth grade students from advancing through high school and preparing for life after graduation. The team spent one day a week at Herman J. Russell West End Academy in Atlanta, Georgia -exposing the 8th grade class to servant leadership principles as well as activations to support these concepts. Students were exposed to public speaking skills, entrepreneurship skills, college/career preparedness, and community service.
2. Racial Justice:
The Racial Justice Capstone team began a multi-year examination of racial justice in the spring of 2023; focusing on examining the impact of racial trauma on contemporary racial issues. This national team, composed of students from Clark Atlanta University, Morgan State, Delaware State University, Edward Waters College, Spelman College, and Stillman College conducted research into racial trauma, with a focus on analyzing the controversy surrounding the creation of the Atlanta Police and Fire training facility.
3. Food Insecurity:
The Food Insecurity Capstone team is continuing past efforts to advance food security on college campuses. A national team of students from Morehouse College, spelman College, Clark Atlanta University and Edward Waters College worked to analyze solutions to alleviate collegiate food insecurity on a macro-level. These students analyzed existing legislation, including the EATS Act and SNAP reform. This work set the stage for the next capstone, which will work to create grassroots campaigns to raise awareness and lobby for effective legislation.
4. Civic Engagement:
The Civic Engagement Capstone team continued a multi-year examination of voter suppression and misinformation during elections. The team presentation included an update and analysis of how new voter suppression efforts, including the 2021 GA Senate Bill 202, impacted collegiate voters during the 2022 midterm and Georgia senate run-off elections. The team also conducted analysis of election misinformation on social media and the potential impacts on collegiate voters. Their work prepared the way for future capstones to design solutions to deal with new election threats, including AI.
5. Criminal Justice:
The Criminal Justice Capstone examined the intricacies of the criminal justice system in Georgia with a focus on issues pertaining to juvenile justice. The capstone team examined issues of bail reform, solitary confinement, and inmate abuse and generated a report on their findings. Their work is the first year of a multi-year examination of Criminal Justice issues, which will include a focus next academic year on the challenges of reintroducing offenders to society, with an emphasis on registering felons to vote.
Click Here to Watch Each of the Spring Semester Capstone Presentations

Fall 2023

  • Civic Engagement – The Civic Engagement Capstone team continued a multi-year examination of voter suppression and misinformation during elections. In the fall of 2023, students focused on voter education initiatives, including creating a survey to gather information about college voters preferences leading into the 2024 election and preparation for a voter town hall in March 2024.
  • Racial Justice – The Racial Justice Capstone continued a multi-year examination of racial justice; focusing on examining the impact of racial trauma on contemporary racial issues. Their work included preparation for a grassroots campaign in 2024 focused on removing the monument from Stone Mountain in Georgia.
  • Criminal Justice – The Criminal Justice Capstone continued their multi-year examination of the intricacies of the criminal justice system in Georgia with a focus on the challenges of reintroducing offenders to society, with an emphasis on registering felons to vote. The students worked in the Fall to gather research about reintroduction of felons into society and working with Restore Her to register felons to vote in the state of Georgia.
  • Food Insecurity – The Food Insecurity Capstone team is continuing past efforts to advance food security on college campuses. This year, the team has been working to create grassroots campaigns to raise awareness and lobby for effective legislation in the US and Georgia State Capitols. In the spring, they will engage in direct advocacy at these locations to raise awareness about the issue of Food insecurity on college campuses.
  • Violence – The violence capstone is a new capstone team created in the Fall of 2023 to examine the culture of violence in the United States and to develop strategies for mitigating violence. The group has explored the culture of violence, including mass shootings, sexually based violence, and international conflict.
In addition to serving on one of these capstone teams, Lowery Institute Change Agents also support the work of the Institute by serving as Pantry Coordinators, “The Change” podcast hosts, and by helping to facilitate leadership training sessions at partner schools in Atlanta Public Schools.

MIMI’S PANTRY 2023

Pantry Data

15 Stipend pantry coordinators

4 pantries

  1. Morehouse College
  2. Spelman College
  3. Clark Atlanta University
  4. Morris Brown College

GAin from 2022

  • Total Gross Students – 5,713
  • Total Weight Distributed (Students) – 53,374.13 lbs
  • Total Weight (Community) – 12,699.40 lbs

Change from 2022

  • # of Gross Students – increased 20.3%
  • Student Weight Distributed – increased 10.3%
The concept of a food pantry on a college campus was birthed by a Lowery Institute Change Agent, Malika Flowers, during the Lowery Institute’s inaugural “Change Agent Tank. Malika envisioned the creation of a campus food pantry to serve the students of Morehouse College, Spelman College, and Clark Atlanta University. Malika spoke passionately about her experiences and that of many students attending Atlanta University schools, forced to choose between textbooks, tuition, food, and other necessities. Since its creation, Mimi’s Pantry has worked to help alleviate these issues. (For more information about the www.changeagenttank.org)

At Mimi’s Pantry, full-time students in the Atlanta University Center without a full meal plan receive nonperishable, fresh and frozen food items as often as needed. Our main pantry is located on the campus of Clark Atlanta University and provides a grocery shopper style feel for students. We also operate satellite locations at Morehouse College and Spelman College.

IMMERSIVE LEARNING

In-school Leadership and Literacy:

Spring 2023

Total number of students served

8th graders at Herman J. Russell West End Academy

Spring Areas of focus

  • Entrepreneurship
  • Career/College Preparedness
  • Community Service
  • Public Speaking

Statistics

  • 80% were able to identify definitions of leadership skills
  • 86% indicated after high school they wanted to attend a four year college
  • 89% wanted to start a business after graduating school

Fall 2023

8th Grade Leadership Cohort transported to Clark Atlanta University campus for leadership training

In the Fall, 8th graders at Herman J. Russell West End Academy participated in the Servant Leadership Studies Program. This cohort of 41 future leaders were transported to the campus of Clark Atlanta University to do a deep dive into learning the skills exemplified by Servant Leaders.

Leadership Constructs

  • Self-Awareness
  • Listening
  • Empathy
  • Finding Your Voice
  • Stewardship (Community Partner – Atlanta Community Food Bank)
  • Discrimination (Collegiate Partner — Spelman and Morehouse Bonner Scholars)
  • Diversity (Government Partner – City of Atlanta Office of Diversity and Inclusion)
  • Healing
  • Campus Visits – ‘Full Immersion Day’ – Atlanta University College Tour

Campus visits included a ‘full immersion day’, where these ‘rising change agents’ received a tour of Clark Atlanta University, Spelman College and Morehouse College. The day included conversations and life-skills sessions from our Scholar Activists as well as from students with Spelman College’s Bonner Scholar and Social Justice Fellows Programs, and Morehouse College’s Bonner Scholars and Oprah Winfrey Scholars programs.

Total number of students served

Statistics

  • 65% of students were designated as Leadership Scholars for having achieved first semester program completion scores at 80% or higher

Lowery Institute Summer Camp

Finding the leader in you…

Our Rising Change Agent camp was a two week travel camp venturing to sites associated with civil or human rights. The campers designed service learning projects that engaged students in topics exemplified by the immersive learning of the daily field trips. Campers were guided through developing campaigns to help them improve their leadership and communication skills, grow their civics knowledge, and develop skills through hands-on experiences with their assigned issues. Our camp culminated with a trip to Montgomery, Alabama to visit two museums to learn the legacy of American history from an African-American lens.

Atlanta City Hall Atrium

The National Memorial for Peace and Justice Montgomery, Alabama

National Center for Civil and Human Rights
Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Non-Violent Social Change

Summer Camp Human & Civil Rights Campaign Projects

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-XVCxHajiE

Book Club

Tank

Click Here for Last Years Video. New application will be out in February 24