Tickets are LIVE! You can purchase them HERE!
Celebration is one of the ingredients that powers social change. That’s why Voices for Vermont’s Children is bringing back our summer event, and we want you to be part of the fun!On June 26th, we’ll gather at Copper at Dorset in South Burlington to toast our collective advocacy efforts in the last year, honor partners’ transformative work on behalf of Vermont’s youth, and rededicate ourselves to giving our kids a solid start and a flourishing future.
This year, our summer celebration shines a spotlight on the work of community schools and honors the Vermont Student Anti-Racism Network’s leadership in advancing equitable, inclusive public education. Our event will feature:
Keynote Speaker: Jess DeCarolis, Vermont Community Schools Coalition. The statewide community schools network will also share how centering student voice and needs, supporting family and community engagement, and fostering inclusive and equitable learning environments is generating exciting results. Kids are connected and ready to learn. Schools are retaining teachers. Students have access to health care. Community members and students are connecting to resources and to each other through place-based opportunities hosted at community schools.
Celebrating the impactful tenures and steady, tenacious, data-driven efforts of Reps. Anne Donahue & Barbara Rachelson to improve the systems our kids and families depend on. Rep. Donahue has long been a champion of young people, often developing policy that closes gaps in our system for children and families experiencing poverty, people with disabilities, and other politically over-looked populations. Rep. Rachelson spent her 7 years in the legislature fiercely pushed legislation to improve juvenile justice, center youth rights, advance restorative justice and harm reduction measures, protect reproductive rights, and advance LGBTQIA+ equity. As both look towards retirement, we take a moment to honor their impact on the livelihoods of Vermonters.
Youth Leadership Award: Vermont Student Anti-Racism Network (VSARN) was founded by a group of 10th graders as awareness and activism around racial injustice collided with the isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic. Their grassroots advocacy for anti-racist education in our schools began with emails to the State School Board, superintendents, and education associations, and has grown to regional organizing hubs and legislative testimony. Currently, VSARN members are organizing around a response to federal immigration action in schools.
Other details: Entertainment by talented youth musicians, an array of tasty small bites and beverages, and a cash bar for those 21+.
Thank you to our sponsors for supporting our event!
Interested in sponsoring the event? Learn more or get in touch with Kachi, Communications & Development Coordinator.