The Activism Academy is a collaborative program run by Every Future Foundation in which students from schools across London are taught the necessary skills to become proactive leaders in social movements against racism.
Through a combination of online and in-person learning, 35-40 students meet bimonthly with Director, Lara Sengupta, and Lead Facilitator, Sophia Sinclair. The founder of Every Future Foundation, Lara Sengupta, who devised the plan of the Activism Academy says that, “we needed a powerful onward journey for inspired students to take their passions to that next step . . . I hope we can learn as much as we can from the participants to make the Academy effective at creating young, educated, inclusive activists.”
Since the begining in January, the Activism Academy has completed:
- Four online training sessions
- One in-person training day.
So…What have we learned so far?
In week one, students were introduced to the program and thought about their long-term goals.
During the second session, students visited the Every Future Foundation offices in Camden for a full day of interactive learning. Led by Director Lara Sengupta, the lesson focused on allyship and how it is important to advocate with and for other communities who are traditionally marginalised. Students walked away with a greater understanding of how to be an effective ally.
Session three featured tips and tricks for using social media in an activist campaign; students created a mock social media plan including designing their own logo with Canva. Lessons on hashtags, different platforms, and effective social media communications were key skills students picked up with session three.
Most recently, in Session 4, students came together over Zoom to take on the topic of public speaking. Guest speaker Raj Murria from Show Racism the Red Card gave an impactful and informative talk about how he overcame his fears, learned from his mistakes, and became a successful public speaker. Students walked away with a greater understanding of how to prepare and deliver an informative speech.
At the conclusion of the Public Speaking session, students were asked to write their own speech with the purpose of encouraging others to join their cause. Check out our next blog to hear directly from one our students on the programme.
