2021 Fellow Focus: Beverly Leon + Local Civics
Professional soccer player, civic engagement advocate, social entrepreneur…2021 Fellow Beverly Leon of Local Civics shares more about her #RuthlessForGood journey.
What propelled you into the entrepreneurial space? And what do you enjoy most about being a founder?
For the past four years, I have focused on addressing the lack of civic engagement among young people, and especially among at-risk youth. My journey to tackle this problem has pushed me to ask: How might we lower the barriers for all young people to participate meaningfully in civic spaces? What role does technology play in connecting youth to civic opportunities? My efforts to answer those questions resulted in the founding of Local Civics with a bold vision to transform youth civic participation so that any young person can participate, no matter their age or ability.
It’s no surprise that I faced some of these same challenges as a young person, and I am dedicated to reimagining how we can overcome them. My career experiences playing pro soccer in Iceland, Italy, and the UK illuminated the many barriers people face in participating in community life and the powerlessness that can accompany that disengagement. This guided my graduate research on youth civic engagement and education policy. Yet, despite this research, I felt that I could do more to impact this space and committed to working on this problem directly through social entrepreneurship.
What I love most about being a founder is the opportunity to collaborate and co-create solutions with my team and the communities we serve. Our mission to strengthen democracy and civic participation propels our own creativity and drive in working to achieve it.
Tell me about an experience you had as an entrepreneur or in starting your company that exemplified one of Camelback's core values: "Belief in Mission + Vision"; "Unafraid of Failure"; "Constant Learner"; "Humble + Hungry"; and "Give First."
At the earliest stages of Local Civics, I embodied Camelback's "Constant Learner" core value. Through my research and coaching experiences, I knew that young people had barriers to participation in community but I didn't know all the ways they might show up for teens in different communities and contexts. This pushed our team to embrace a learning mindset and continually examine our approaches to piloting Local Civics in different educational contexts and communities. Through our early pilots, we found that pursuing many of the great civic education and community engagement opportunities required more resources than are readily available to low income students. Many of the students that we piloted with were vocal about the economic barriers to civic engagement that they’ve personally encountered (ie. transportation costs, lack of internet access, working to support family, cost of educational events).
We knew that to build equitably meant that we had to consider the lived experiences of youth who may not have had the privilege of moving through and engaging with important civic spaces and institutions. In addition to this, we also considered how we might build technology for youth who had these added barriers. While we live in a mobile-first world, our research and continual learning helped guide our product development in an important way: focusing our efforts on building our web-based platform first. Through utilizing this constant learner mindset, our Local Civics team can now make and evaluate decisions quickly and effectively.
As a BIPOC founder, Camelback understands that the struggle is constant, what motivates you to get up every day and keep on fighting?
Seeing the impact Local Civics has had on students, educators, and organizations motivates me everyday and brings our mission into full view. In the past year alone, we engaged more than 2000+ students and 100+ educators in high-quality civics learning. We have also demonstrated growth across several important student civic measures: Mindsets, Skills, and Actions. For example, in one of our recent high school programs, more than 50% of students indicated that they were MORE likely to vote in the future, 60% reported that they were MORE likely to write or speak to a public official about an issue that is of concern to them, and 25% of students said they were MORE likely to run for public office in the future because of their learning experiences with Local Civics.
I have also been inspired by the tangible change our students have created in their local communities. One student group launched “Just Breathe” a coalition of youth advocating for clean energy in the Bronx after their research identified the health disparities for Bronx youth caused by pollution. Another group, “Better Business Organization,” built a digital marketing agency to support Bronx-based small businesses hit hard by COVID-19 in setting up their online presence. A third group presented “Fostering Foster Youth” an innovative nonprofit to support youth who were aging out of the foster care system with academic, financial, and career resources. Every student that leaves our program with a renewed excitement about civic engagement reminds me that we are that much closer to achieving our mission.
What's your favorite book or podcast that you draw entrepreneurial inspiration from?
Hands down, NPR's How I Built This with Guy Raz. There have been countless entrepreneurial journeys highlighted on the podcast that have inspired me to push my own entrepreneurial thinking and help me overcome the inevitable challenges along the way.
Why did you choose to embark on the Camelback Fellowship? And what do you hope to gain from this experience?
The Camelback Fellowship represented a phenomenal opportunity for me to build alongside social entrepreneurs and founders who are committed to building sustainable, game-changing organizations — what founder wouldn't choose to embark on that journey! On a personal level, I know I will leave the fellowship experience with new collaborators and supporters that will inspire me to overcome any hurdle I encounter in my entrepreneurial journey. For me, being a part of this community will be invaluable.
You can learn more about ➡ Beverly Leon of Local Civics.
Get to know more of the 2021 Camelback Fellows👇🏽