World Mind Creation Academy (WMCA) is a participant of NAC’s 2017 cohort program, funded by the City of Seattle and the Sheng-Yen Lu Foundation. This program provides individualized coaching and an in-depth work plan that caters to the organization’s specific wants and needs over the course of a year. In addition, it creates an environment for peer-learning that works to strengthen POC-led organizations in Seattle and Kent. Yasmin Habib is the founder and Executive Director of WMCA, and offered to share with us a few words about her work.
At WMCA, we say, “We know within each child, there is a compassionate leader waiting to emerge.” This is why we work to create opportunities for refugee and immigrant youth as leaders and healers in the community. Founded by immigrant and refugee women in the South Seattle neighborhood of Rainier Vista, we create safe spaces for the exploration of cultural identities, development of individual leadership skills, and the building of community via after-school mentoring and holistic youth-driven programming.
This year, the Academy was selected to receive $500,000 as a partner in King County’s Best Start For Kids Youth Development initiative to support their core program:
The Young Community Builders (YCB) is a youth-driven mentoring and leadership development program which employs and trains first and second generation refugees and immigrants as facilitating mentors to engage youth as leaders and immerse them in community life. Mentors are also trained as outreach specialist to serve as cultural liaisons with the goal of increasing the network of support available to participants and their limited English speaking families. Through this approach, WMCA has engaged well over 300 youth participants and their families since their establishment in 2014, ultimately promoting an environment of healing, empowerment and inter-generational co-creation.
When asked about WMCA’s participation in NAC’s programming this year, WMCA emphasized the importance of the community building and peer-learning. They said, “We’ve learned an incredible amount regarding nonprofits and how best to continue working with our community. We’ve learned practical skills… but equally important is the tremendous people we’ve met in the cohort.”
Working with WMCA has been an honor for NAC and a pleasure for other members of this year’s cohort program. It has been tremendous to work with an organization that highlights the power of youth, and places trust on the individual to create change in our communities. The values of WMCA are displayed prominently in the way they carry out their work and are an example that we learn from every day.
Check out the World Mind Creation Academy website and Facebook page for more information!