Center for Community Engagement

Mental health and experiences with trauma inform how people interact with the world around them and themselves. The Social Justice Learning Institute (SJLI), located in Inglewood, California, is an organization devoted to supporting “youth and communities of color by empowering them to enact social change through research, training, and community mobilization,” emphasizing the importance of system-level interventions. SJLI’s current programs are designed to support young men of color — this community-engaged research project seeks to fill the gap and widen the scope of the organization’s programming to young women of color. Literature reviews and analyses of existing programs designed to support young women of color have been conducted to collate perspectives and strategies for supporting young women; the community members will be included in these conversations. Supporting young women is critical to creating a more equitable and person-centered society, and this work will foundationally invest in promoting such change, specifically on the West coast, where research indicates a gap in programmatic supports.