Davitto Leadership Academy

DAVITTO LEADERSHIP ACADEMY

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Find Purpose in Your Voice • Be the Change in Your Community

 

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WHO WE ARE

The Davitto Leadership Academy is a certificated youth mentoring and leadership program for ages 16-24, with an interest in social justice or political advocacy to give youth voice in the Sacramento community.

Participants attend training sessions to learn leadership skills and how to put those skills into action. They develop a plan to address a school or community issue that they are passionate about changing and are matched with an adult mentor who will coach them as they develop and execute their plans.

Through this experience, participants develop cross-cultural, cross-generational relationships with their peers, peer mentors, and adult mentors, giving participants skills to be effective youth advocates now and contributors in their future workplaces.

Why DLA?

The DLA is designed to help youth gain cross-cultural, cross-generational leadership skills and execute a plan to improve their school or community. Participants learn and use advocacy skills to influence decisions within political, economic, and social systems and institutions.

 Youth participants gain:
•Transferable skills that they learn to highlight on their resume and in interviews
•Opportunities to apply their learned skills to better their circumstances and community with feedback from their peers, mentors, and community members
•Mentorship from an adult ally that has experience in a focus area of interest
•Empowerment and hope

Advisory Board Members

2018 Cohort

Peer Mentors & Advisory Board

The very first group of DLA Peer Mentors got together to learn mentorship skills, enhance their public speaking, and trained for the very first Cohort of DLA Participants. Peer Mentors learned the importance of leadership by analyzing their true selves with activities that promote trust, communication, and support which are key values that hold true to the Davitto Leadership Academy. After the DLA Mentors met one another, a new group of Advisory Board Mentors for the DLA got together to build relationships with Peer Mentors and understood the importance of cross cultural and cross generational mentorship.

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Program

DLA Levels 1-4 launched the very first group of DLA Participants, Peer Mentors, and Advisory Board Mentors who got together for the first time to build a community of support through telling their stories and embracing one another. Through this, Participants enhanced their ability to speak about the struggles and issues that make them who they are. By building the necessary trust and support, DLA Participants created long lasting relationships with their Peer Mentors and Advisory Board Mentors that will be used further into the future through cross cultural and cross generational mentorship.

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“The DLA has impacted my social life a lot because I got close to many people and learned a lot about them. Now the DLA has impacted my academic life a lot because we did this project that had to do with our passions that we presented today which they really helped me a lot with feedback and support.” -DLA 2018 Cohort Participant

Graduation

The DLA Cohort 1 Graduation celebrated the achievements of our very first group of Participants. DLA students presented their passion projects to their mentors, community members, and families. Topics such as education, mentorship, immigration, mental health, and sustainability were discussed by our first wave of DLA Participants all of whom spoke of by relating back to their personal struggles and life stories. Through this, scholarships were offered to Simpson University and further opportunities presented through the completion of Level 3.

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2019 Cohort

“I’ve improved my networking skills tremendously, also speaking from the heart, and group facilitation.” -DLA Peer Mentor | Trayzon White

Peer Mentors & Advisory Board

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Graduation

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Program

The second cohort of the DLA ends level 1 and 2 on a high by celebrating their accomplishments on May 4th, 2019. DLA Participants presented on topics such as; police relations, educational equity, and mental health awareness. These passion projects set forth new goals for AES to support youth voice and empowered not only Participants of the DLA but also their families, mentors, and community members who attend the Initiation in support of youth voice.

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