GENAUSTIN

The spark change project (scp): founded in 2020, spark change project is delivered in a strategic collaboration with the excellence and advancement foundation. The scp centers a small group of high school aged girls of color as leaders, who gain a part time job, find their own activist voices, and galvanize a wider network of their peers. Scp hosts a number of program events such as issue forums, town halls, and other community events. Girls in the program explore topics like identity, public speaking skills, service learning, and navigating political systems. They review policy that is most relevant to their lives such as school justice, menstrual equity, teen dating violence prevention, lgbtq+ issues, and mental health outcomes for girls of color. The program is in full swing during odd yearsas the texas legislature only meets for a session every other year. During off- session years, the girls work on projects like curriculum creation, policy research, and letter writing to local officials.(this is not a new project. It was combined with 1st accomplishment on previous returns)