Youth Rising: Fellows & Future Architects of Equity (Vol. 1, No. 2)

Leaders Up
1 hour ago
2 min read

By Dr. Shane Nelson

The Shift | Vol. 1, No. 2 – Future Proofing Our Communities

Legacies in the Making: Evolve Fellows on the Rise

Picture this: suicide rates among young Black men in California have surged 22%. First-gen college students face crushing isolation. 52% of Gen Z workers fear being replaced by AI.

This is the reality we're confronting head-on.

When robots threaten careers and campus life feels impossibly lonely, what's the antidote? Community. Not just any community, but intentional infrastructure that transforms isolation into connection.

That's why we launched Evolve Fellows through our LA Economic Empowerment Alliance partnership with LA-Tech.org. Over the course of three years, we're supporting 150 first-generation CSU/UC sophomores through a comprehensive journey that proves community building directly advances outcomes. Each Fellow receives personalized coaching, a monthly stipend-based support, and access to an alumni network that extends beyond graduation. Each year, from now until 2028, cohorts of 50 students join the program, supporting one another in a thriving community.

Our Sony Studios orientation sent a clear message: in a world of increasing despair, we're building networks of hope. Each Fellow carries two legacies: their family's dreams and the future they're creating together.

Our Four Empowerment Domains:

Academic Empowerment: Persistence-focused coaching ensures no student navigates pressure alone. Research shows peer mentoring can boost GPAs by 0.61 points.

Career Empowerment: Monthly sessions, ranging from "Career Pathways" to "Networking Strategies," develop skills that robots can't replicate: creativity, empathy, and cultural intelligence. We're preparing Fellows for careers that require human brilliance.

Self/Community Empowerment: Starting with "Self-Discovery & Strengths" and building through identity exploration, we transform individual achievement into collective power. Belonging interventions increase retention by 9-10%.

Financial Empowerment: Beyond budgeting basics, we're cultivating a generational wealth consciousness—addressing immediate pressures while planning for long-term security.

The mental health crisis isn't about individual struggles; it's about systems that isolate when they should connect. In an era when young BIPOC men struggle in silence, connection becomes survival. Community becomes strategy. Hope becomes infrastructure.

Join us in proving that when we invest in intentional development, we invest in futures no automation can replace.

Dr. Shane Nelson is the Director of Youth Engagement and Economic Empowerment at LeadersUp, merging critical research with practical actions for our portfolio of young adult programming.