Voices of Youth in Chicago Education (VOYCE) is a youth organizing alliance for education and racial justice led by students of color from across the city of Chicago and Illinois. Formed in 2007, VOYCE focuses on developing a youth leadership pipeline of low-income youth of color to advance safe and supportive school climates and healing-centered approaches to teaching and learning.
Some key accomplishments include:
- Young people led successful efforts to create the nation’s most comprehensive statewide school discipline reform, SB100, ending zero tolerance at all publicly-funded schools in Illinois, placing stronger standards on the use of exclusionary discipline, ending practices such as discipline fines and counseling out, and creating a framework to enable the thoughtful expansion of restorative practices in schools.
- Transformed the Chicago Public Schools Student Code of Conduct to end zero tolerance, create shifts away from exclusionary discipline, and promote the use of restorative practices across the District.
- Illinois created a state-level Rethinking Safety initiative in August 2019 that will allow school districts to expand resources for mental and behavioral health, restorative justice, and other trauma-informed support for youth.
- Through a youth-led PAR project in partnership with the Preventing Alcohol Abuse in Chicago Teens (PAACT) of Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, VOYCE youth develop and successfully advance key changes to the student Code of Conduct to approach student drug and alcohol use through a public health approach.
- During the pandemic, VOYCE youth have led community engagement efforts to expand access to mental and behavioral health in and out of schools through civic engagement efforts and partnerships with health institutions.
- In partnership with Communities United, VOYCE launched the Working On Knowledge and Equity project in [2019]. The WOKE project advances restorative and positive school climates through healing-centered approaches to teaching and learning, with a strong focus on students’ lived experience and leadership.
VOYCE’s youth leaders have won significant recognition for their work:
- In 2019, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago awarded its Hope & Courage Award to Voices Of Youth in Chicago Education (VOYCE) for its “exceptional commitment to improving the health and well-being of children and youth.” This award recognized VOYCE’s work to disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline by conducting qualitative youth-led research.
- In 2019, VOYCE was also recognized in the first annual Obama Foundation and CPS Civic Recognition Awards for its effective model of youth leadership development and civic engagement.
- In 2015, VOYCE received The Woods Fund of Chicago’s Power of Community Award for successfully helping to dismantle the school to prison pipeline.
VOYCE is an alliance convened by Communities United. We engage young people and adult allies from over 30 partner organizations and institutions across the city and state.
For more information or to get involved, please contact Maria Degillo, VOYCE Coordinator, maria@voyceproject.org or at 773-583-1387.