The Design Your Future Fellowship

Milwaukee Succeeds launched the Design Your Future summer fellowship on June 21, 2021, in partnership with UBUNTU Research and Evaluation and Equitable Systems Consultants. During this paid summer program, 58 young people from around Milwaukee created plans to improve high school for Black male youth.

Explore the Proposals

Why Design Your Future?

Why don’t our students have a say in how their education works? We believe that empowering students and creating spaces for them to influence decision-making is the only way to move towards a a truly equitable future.

Our Design Your Future Fellowship was designed to intentionally shift power to those with lived experience, giving them a meaningful way to influence the world around them.

Design Your Future Proposals

The Design Your Future Fellowship grouped youth into 6 teams, who each produced a proposal on what they would like to see changed in Milwaukee schools in order to improve outcomes for Black male youth. All 6 proposals identified mental health support and resources as a critical area of focus, with 4 explicitly stating the need for an in-school curriculum.

In 2022, David Emmanuelle Castillo of Equitable Systems Consultants consolidated their ideas into three proposals.

The 3 Proposals

  • Proposal 1 aimed to make mental health a standard practice in schools. To achieve this, SKY Schools created targeted mentoring and mental health curriculum, which was rolled out at two schools. MENTOR Greater Milwaukee and the Department of Black and Latino Male Achievement further advanced these efforts by expanding mentoring and peer-to-peer support networks.

  • Proposal 2 offered out-of-school wellness programming focused on mental, physical and spiritual support. The Wellness Lab, a youth-informed makerspace in the ThriveOn King building, now serves as a dedicated space for youth and community members to engage in wellness practices.

  • Proposal 3 established the Autonomous Youth Council, which empowered youth with the knowledge and skills needed to actively participate in decision-making. After a 4-week training academy, youth stepped into year-long placements on boards, advisory councils and leadership tables across the city.

 Program Outcomes

In total 58 of the 60 youth participants completed the Design Your Future Fellowship. UBUNTU Research and Evaluation, who acted as key partners in the work, evaluated the program’s effectiveness, ultimately concluding that the student-centered programming, culturally relevant material and direct connection to the demographic of change led to its success.

  • Ultimately, fellows learned how to advocate for themselves and their peers, use systems thinking and building, and format solutions around their ideas of success.

  • Fellows supported one another. Friendships were developed, ideals challenged, and lived experiences were shared, validated and realized.

  • Mentors exhibited drive and authentic care toward youth, and they formed individualized relationships with the fellows.