Starting from Yesterday…

Yesterday was the big reveal. I’ve been working on an advocacy + portrait + story project for about 11 months. The focus is entirely on the Expanded Learning Workforce (think about the folks who work after school with our kids, during summer, etc.), their experiences, their pathways, challenges, and joys.

It’s not done, but last night was the first milestone. During a two-day advocacy event in Sacramento, California, hosted and led by a dynamic team from Partnership for Children and Youth and the California School Age Consortium, 40 of my portraits and participant stories were featured at the event's welcome reception. The images were hung next to their stories so folks could see and read about their peers, find common ground, and, hopefully, spark meaningful conversation about how we can continue to support these vital humans in the work they do. Several of my subjects were there (shout out to Hada, Callista, Liv, Eduardo, and Mariana), and it was truly amazing to see them and reconnect around this beautiful event. Additionally, loads of program staff, EDs, advocates, legislative staffers, people from all walks of life from all over the state, including a few State senators. Not too shabby. I had the chance to share a few words about the project, why I’m doing it, why it matters… In my haste to wrap up in under three minutes, and while I was dropping my handwritten speech, I managed to miss a few lines that I think are worth writing here:

…“In the past 11 months, I’ve gone from test shoots in my carport to portraits of what I believe showcase power, curiosity, and most of all, a complex version of humanity that is actually common among us all…. As you read the stories and look at the portraits, I hope you feel the personalities and soul of each participant come through, but more importantly, I hope the images provoke a conversation about why expanded learning is crucial for our state, education, and our kids.

notes

This project is far from over, as there are more stories to capture, more conversations to have, and more portraits to make that hopefully inspire others to keep the debate going about why these roles, this resource, and this workforce is so crucial to children and communities in California and beyond.