Highlight: Jennymarie Idrobo, our Gem Project Fellow Facilitator, is speaking at Community Catalyst's annual event, "Building Power for Health Justice," with a $2,500 honorarium by Community Catalyst, highlighting the ongoing work she and other youth at The Gem Project have done in 2023. This summer, The Gem Project's fellows worked as community navigators in partnership with Greater Newark Health Care Coalition and NJ FamilyCare, opening doors to expand their impact in health equity. Health is one of 3 of Gem Project's justice pillars: health, education, and criminal justice. Their 10-week training culminated in a city-wide canvassing, engaging with almost 300 Newark residents. Now, The Gem Project plans to reach even more in the fall with school-based support. Friend, Representing our youth at The Gem Project, Jennymarie Idrobo, will be speaking at this year's Building Power for Health Justice. This virtual event, which convenes 500 people each year on topics related to health, justice and equity, will be taking place this October across 3 days, October 17-19. Jennymarie will be speaking on panel October 18, 2023 from 2:05 PM - 3:05 PM. You can register today for free at https://www.buildingpowerforhealthjustice.com/.  Biography of Jennymarie Idrobo:
Working as a youth organizer, fellow, and facilitator at The Gem Project, Jennymarie Idrobo has contributed hundreds of hours of service over the last few years within the organization's justice pillars of education, health, and criminal justice. A graduate of Montclair University, Idrobo has earned a Bachelor's in Justice Studies and as a teenager, an associate degree in Liberal Arts from Bard High School Early College, based in Newark, New Jersey, where she has resided at all of her life. Throughout Idrobo's tenure at The Gem Project, she has taken on projects that have enabled her to offer peer-based support, consult, and facilitate a number of workshops, which discussed topics of advocacy and social justice. Co-facilitating workshops at Victoria Foundation's inaugural NextGen Grantmakers Initiative, Jennymarie Idrobo assisted Newark youth in developing their own grantmaking process in partnership with The Gem Project to distribute $50,000 to Newark-based organizations. Most recently, Idrobo has worked to support the redetermination process of NJ FamilyCare/Medicaid in partnership with The Gem Project and one of four legislatively designated Regional Health Hubs, Greater Newark Health Care Coalition. Currently, Jennymarie Idrobo is an assistant teacher at the Montclair Cooperative School and is passionate about diversity, inclusion and creating equity. In Jennymarie's free time, she can be found at community events and engaging in photography. Few things on your radar this week (reminders): - 4 slots are open for Board of Director positions at The Gem Project, Inc. Deadline: October 31, 2023. You can download a packet, which has buttons for the full application, info sessions/webinars, and current working groups. You can also encourage someone to apply, using this sample letter.
- Tuesday, September 5, 2023 we launched the new application for our 2023-2024 Fellowship cohort for youth age 16-24. There will be 45 slots. The website will be: http://thegemproject.org/fellowships. School year fellowships are also paid. We work throughout the year to make this happen as most of our budget is dedicated to this. Deadline: 9/29/23.
- Investor's Call free invitation will be coming to you for September 15, 2023 (Save Date, Noon) with details on what that is soon. We can build this, together.
To discuss how to support our programs through volunteering or making a donation, feel free to contact us! Best Regards, Amanda A. Ebokosia Founder and CEO The Gem Project, Inc. |