My name is Sher Jamal Stone. In my work as a digital strategist, I’ve helped manage and lead communications for various youth justice campaigns, including Raise the Age NY, Act4JJ, National Juvenile Justice Network’s Youth Justice Action Month, as well as develop digital narrative workshops that engage directly with systems-involved youth and organizers. I’m truly excited to work alongside the powerful youth organizers and researchers of the YouthNPower project!

Why is this project important to you?
Too often, young people’s experiences and insights are ignored or considered an afterthought in our line of work. I’m proud to be a part of this project because it has been intentionally built out so that young people’s voices and power drive our mission, not the other way around.

What do you hope to accomplish in this project?
In my role helping coordinate the storytelling aspect of this project, More Than Fosters, I hope that people are able to see how much we value lifting up youth voice, and that young people who are systems-involved are excited to share their own experiences.

What have been some of your experiences in the project?
I’ve been really inspired by how willing young people and facilitators have been to experiment, pause, and learn and grow from challenges we’ve run into during the development of this project. We’ve been meeting for months to equip young people with the tools they’ll need to own their narrative in an empowering way.

What are your hopes and dreams for young people?
I hope that as many young people are able to develop the empowerment and confidence necessary to lead conversations about our collective future, so that the people in power are forced to put their egos to the side and listen.

Sher Jamal’s Favorite Things:
Author: Kurt Vonnegut
Color: Blue
Book: Dreaming in Cuban by Cristina García
Flower: Chrysanthemum
Hobby: Organizing my Spotify playlists
Zodiac: Aquarius