At Our Core

AT OUR CORE:

We offer a variety of programs where youth can hone their interests and skills with the support of adult allies.

Promoter Program:

Promoters form the heart of the Gandhi Brigade. They are a cadre of young people who have committed themselves to a year of training and servant leadership to advance the mission of Gandhi Brigade. They grow their individual and collective power through the disciplined development of self, peers, and community. Promoters meet every third Thursday of each month at 3:30pm in the Gandhi Brigade space to work on the three main areas listed below. The meetings are planned and facilitated by the youth members. Visitors and interested youth are encouraged to attend these monthly Promoter meetings to learn more about Gandhi Brigade and sign up for future opportunities.

Self Development:

Promoters develop their full talents as human beings through the mastery of skills such as public speaking, group facilitation, critical thinking, and the cultivation of awareness.

Skills:

include media production, peer instruction, & community organizing.

Awareness:

includes diversity, social justice, & self-knowledge.

Designers:

The Designers Tribe specializes in art and graphic design. They use these skills to design outreach and promotional materials, infographics, web platforms, and artwork that voice their concerns and engage their communities to act upon issues. The Designers edit primarily on Adobe Creative Suite software.

Producers:

The Producers Tribe specializes in video production. They learn the three stages of production in order to create video projects aimed at exploring issues of personal growth and reflection, community, and social justice. Youth hold regular “pitch sessions”, as a way of presenting their project ideas to their peers. The tribe will then vote on pitches and work in small production teams to create videos based on the winning pitches. The Producers edit primarily on Final Cut Pro X.

Photographers:

The Photographers Tribe specializes in photography. They learn both how to set up and direct a photo shoot, and also how to shoot in unexpected environments, such as events and on-the-street photography. The Photographers will produce photography and photography-based projects throughout the year that focus on youth selected issues. The Photographers also learn how to edit photographs on Adobe Photoshop.

Brigade Highlights

* Gandhi Brigade with Reel Works hosted the first Youth Media + Action Summit in Silver Spring and DC. This summit brought 100 youth media makers and activists from the East and West Coasts together for three days of collaborative media, art, and social justice projects.

* Two Gandhi Brigade youth presented at a the (W)rites of Passage TEDx talk organized by the Duke Ellington School of the Arts at the Goethe Institute in Washington, DC. The event showcased creative works from youth in the DC Metro Area examining the importance role writing plays in innovation.

* Gandhi Brigade’s 6th annual Youth Media Festival in May 2013 brought the largest geographical reach of youth submissions than any previous year ranging with submissions from San Francisco, Philadelphia, New York, Baltimore, and DC.

* 1,748 people attended events for the The Youth Voices on the Plaza series. The program featured intergenerational community events. Five teens were hired for summer internships, where they learned about event and project management, graphic design, and community outreach.

* Arun Gandhi, grandson of Mohandas, visited the Gandhi Brigade in September. Curious about a "brigade" named after his grandfather, he questioned our youth about their work and commended them for their commitment to justice.

Gandhi Brigade