Our Youth Forward MKE work has officially come to a close. Learn more.

The Design Your Future Fellowship

Milwaukee Succeeds launched the Design Your Future summer fellowship on June 21, 2021, in partnership with UBUNTU Research and Evaluation and Equitable Systems Consultants. During this paid summer program, 58 young people from around Milwaukee created plans to improve high school for Black male youth.

6 groups — each guided by 2 adult mentors — laid out blueprints for equity-based programs to introduce into Milwaukee schools. All 6 proposals identified mental health support and resources as a critical area of focus, with 4 explicitly stating the need for an in-school curriculum. In 2022, David Emmanuelle Castillo of Equitable Systems Consultants consolidated their ideas into three proposals. The Youth Forward MKE coalition and its cohort of youth ambassadors then began putting these plans into action.

Explore the Proposals

Why Design Your Future?

This workshop, and ongoing support of youth-powered programming, was designed to intentionally shift power to those with lived experience.

Students are most affected by the school system, so why haven’t they had a say in how the education system works?

We believe that empowering students of color and creating spaces for them to have real, un-tokenized stakes in decision-making is the only way to move towards a future that is truly equitable.

Program Outcomes

In total 58 of the 60 youth participants completed the Design Your Future Fellowship. UBUNTU Research and Evaluation evaluated the program’s effectiveness, ultimately concluding that the student-centered programming, culturally relevant material and direct connection to the demographic of change led to its success.

  • Fellows learned how to advocate for themselves and their peers, use systems thinking and building and format solutions around their ideas of success.

  • Fellows supported one another. Friendships were developed, ideals challenged, and lived experiences were shared, validated and realized.

  • Mentors exhibited drive and authentic care toward youth, and they formed individualized relationships with the fellows.

The Proposals

  • Proposal 1 aimed to make mental health a standard practice in schools. To achieve this, SKY Schools created targeted mentoring and mental health curriculum, which was rolled out at two schools. MENTOR Greater Milwaukee and the Department of Black and Latino Male Achievement assisted these efforts by expanding mentoring and peer-to-peer support networks.

  • Proposal 2 offetrf out-of-school wellness programming focused on mental, physical and spiritual support. The Wellness Lab, a youth-informed makerspace in the ThriveOn King building, now serves as a dedicated space for youth and community members to engage in wellness practices.

  • Proposal 3 established the Autonomous Youth Council to recruit, develop and place youth on local community governance structures. The council empowered youth with the knowledge and skills to actively participate in shaping the decisions that impact their lives. It began with a 4-week training academy in the summer of 2024, followed by a yearlong placement at a local organization.