To all club advisers, members, and interested parties:
The Freedom Writers Foundation ( www.freedomwritersfoundation.org) is a non-profit organization based in Long Beach, CA whose mission is to empower marginalized youth in this country through education. You may have heard of the founder and president, Erin Gruwell, (UCI Alumni) who was played by Hilary Swank in the 2007 film “Freedom Writers.”
We are looking for a group of dedicated student volunteers to help us plan and moderate the first annual “Freedom Writer Youth Summit” tentatively set to take place in 2010–a conference that will bring together hundreds of high school students from around the country to Southern California to debate, discuss, and propose solutions to some of the most challenging issues facing our schools and communities. These issues include drug abuse, gang violence, bullying, inter-ethnic/inter-cultural/inter-racial relations, first amendment rights, ESL, and standardized testing.
This is a great opportunity for any students who are interested in social/political reform, public policy, law, community empowerment and grass roots movements to hone their leadership, public speaking and organizational skills. Plus, those involved will have the chance to work closely with influential people in these fields and form lasting relationships that will serve them well in their personal and professional development.
The introductory discussions will take place throughout these next few months with more substantive planning to occur in the fall. Interested students can contact me or Josh Ludmir one of the board members and the director of this conference directly via phone or email with any questions you have. Upon contacting me, I will forward a more detailed outline/agenda of the conference that more concretely highlights the roles that College Students from around the country will undertake.
Do not miss out on this amazing opportunity to build some influential connections and make a difference in these kid’s’ lives!!!
Sincerely,
Krithika Santhanam
4th Year Undergraduate Student
Criminology, Law, and Society
(909) 728-9190
Kaydoll7@gmail.com
Ksanthan@uci.edu
Josh Ludmir
Milbank
Global Project Finance
601 South Figueroa Street, 30th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90017
(310) 801-0021
jludmir@milbank.com