Development of an evidence-based, healing-centered leadership curriculum for youth in the Cornwallis Housing Community of Durham, North Carolina in partnership with GRACED, Inc.
Creators: name: Mariangelie Torres Maldonado
name: Aminah Isiaq
name: Paris Wiechecki Vergara
name: John Rowell, Jr.
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2024

description: GRACED, Inc. is a small, local non-profit in Durham, NC dedicated to fostering youth empowerment and youth leadership by helping them to set and achieve meaningful goals, build a mentorship network, and become leaders and advocates in their communities. The purpose of our Capstone project is to enhance the organizational capacity of GRACED, Inc. through the development and implementation of our deliverables. Our preceptor, Tiffany Swoope, is the founder and CEO of GRACED, Inc. While her diligent work ethic and creativity are a testament to her passion for youth mentorship, it is a challenge to bring all her ideas to fruition with only her and several faithful volunteers. The goal of our Capstone is to support GRACED, Inc. in their mission to build a brighter future for youth and give them the confidence to pursue their dreams as they transition to young adulthood.
We have planned and coordinated a number of relevant activities for our Capstone project. For example, we have conducted site visits to pilot lesson plan activities that will be included in the instructional curriculum where we establish rapport with GRACED Inc. youth and families. We also implemented listening sessions to gain youth insight about the project deliverables (e.g., community resource guide). Our first deliverable is a community resource guide that will provide a comprehensive list of services and resources within and surrounding the Cornwallis community that can support the youth and families of GRACED, Inc. We are in the process of creating a healing-centered, STEAM curriculum focused on leadership, entrepreneurship, and emotional regulation. To provide an evidence base for this curriculum, we conducted a literature review to identify evidence indicating strong or sufficient effectiveness of the content and pedagogy selected for the curriculum. Finally, to assist GRACED, Inc.’s capacity to help more members of the Cornwallis community, we will develop a sustainability plan that maintains the integrity and impact of this STEAM-based leadership program. Through our work, we as students hope to cultivate a culture of collaboration and compassion with the GRACED, Inc. coordinators and beneficiaries to build trustworthy relationships, foster equitable participation, and utilize effective partnerships to develop viable, agency-oriented, context-driven, accessible, and culturally appropriate solutions. We hope that our work will promote equity by addressing social-emotional gaps, helping youth to cope with trauma responses, promoting healthy interpersonal skills and decision-making, and enhancing resistance to peer pressure. Through this experience, our Capstone team wants to gain practical skills in community engagement and connect with the Cornwallis community while providing our technical knowledge to GRACED, Inc.