What is Amachi Ambassadors?

Amachi Ambassadors is a specialized youth organizing, advocacy, and leadership development program for high school students impacted by parental incarceration, which:
  • Equips students to become civically engaged and champion education reform and system change
  • Amplifies youth voices
  • Enriches the educational experience of students
The objectives are for students themselves to lead efforts to:
  • Raise awareness, concern, and responsive actions in schools and the community around children and families with incarcerated loved ones;
  • Dispel debilitating stigmas and prejudices related to familial incarceration; and
  • Improve institutions that directly affect their lives

Initiatives

Students engage in a multitude of public awareness activities to educate various sectors from their own voices about the impacts of incarceration on children and their academic, health and life outcomes. They hone their analytical, writing, presentation, and public speaking skills and apply these skills to advocate for themselves and other students facing similar challenges.

By engaging students as problem solvers and leaders in these efforts, we are able to promote increased confidence and self-esteem; goal setting; a drive to be successful in school and life; a sense of power and control over their future; and a strong sense of pride and dignity about who they are as individuals,  separate and apart from the circumstances in which they live.

Utilizing a training curriculum developed by the School of Unity and Liberation (SOUL), and customized for our specific population, students each receive a minimum of 72 hours of educational enrichment and leadership throughout the year in addition to engagement in special, ongoing events such as conferences, community forums, public hearings, debates and culturally enriching activities.

Interested in Getting Involved?

Workshops and Events

 

Workshops are referred to as Ambassador Saturdays, which are an ongoing series of workshops and activities on leadership development, youth organizing, education reform, community engagement and much more. These activities take place at the Amachi Pittsburgh office located at 1830 Forbes Ave., 2nd Floor, on the 1ST and 3RD Saturday of each month from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Special events and other activities are scheduled on a case-by-case basis and may take place on weekday evenings and/or weekends.