Alliance for Refugee Youth Support and Education

We’re one week away from Giving Tuesday and Give Big Pittsburgh!?? Our incredible board members are leading the charge to raise $15,000 to unlock a matching donation from a Pittsburgh-based family foundation. This campaign is more important than ever as ARYSE continues to grow: ?? Launching our Post-Secondary Success program ?? Welcoming new staff and interns ?? Celebrating 13 years of PRYSE Academy ?? Expanding our advocacy efforts Look through this post to learn about this year’s campaign, how to navigate our fundraising campaign page, and meet some of the board members whose campaigns you can support! We look forward to beginning our campaign next Tuesday and we hope you’ll join us in giving?? #ARYSEandshine #GiveBigPittsburgh #GivingTuesday

This week, we had the privilege of joining Upper St. Claire High School’s Global Education Week! The theme, Game On, celebrated sports from around the world, and eight of our students stepped up to share their love of cricket. After presenting to an audience of 200+ USC students about the history of cricket’s popularity in Afghanistan and their favorite players, ARYSE youth led a mini clinic, teaching 14 participants the basics of batting and bowling, followed by an exciting game on the field. It was amazing to see connections form and new friendships blossom, reminding us how powerful shared experiences around learning and play can be. A big thank you to LIGHT Education Initiative for connecting us with Upper St. Claire High School for this event—we’re excited to explore more opportunities to collaborate in the future! Shoutout to our cricket experts for their hard work and leadership! And a special thank you to Fernán on our team for guiding the planning process and helping foster this new partnership. #ARYSEandshine

Meet our local 2024 Moonshot Grantees! This is our largest Moonshot Grant cohort ever, with 17 impressive projects building a bold future for learning, right here in southwestern Pennsylvania and northern West Virginia. Read more ?? https://lnkd.in/enm8Tdjr Congratulations to all the grantees: ?? Attack Theatre, Inc. ?? DePaul School for Hearing and Speech ?? Carlow University ?? Dragon's Den ?? Brentwood Borough School District ?? Seneca Valley School District ?? Fox Chapel Area School District ?? Butler Area School District ?? Grounded Strategies ?? Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy ?? Northgate School District ?? SLB Radio ?? Forum for Western Pennsylvania Superintendents ?? Alliance for Refugee Youth Support and Education ?? World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh ?? Homewood Children's Village

Over the weekend, our Youth Steering Committee (YSC) met for the first time for the 24-25 school year! ?? We were thrilled to welcome our cohort of 15 students—including 9 new members (!!)—to the University of Pittsburgh for a day full of connection and inspiring conversations. Our first session introduced students to each other, ARYSE staff, and the history and strategic plan of the organization. We also worked together to create community guidelines and learn about the purpose of the Youth Steering Committee as a way to “steer” ARYSE in a direction informed by our students. After lunch, we dove into an engaging discussion about the election and reflected on ARYSE's mission and values, setting the stage for a year of learning and collaborating to make change in our communities. We are so grateful for this ambitious and talented group of youth leaders and can’t wait for all of the exciting events ahead of us! ?? #ARYSEandshine

We are thrilled to introduce Dakota Rottino-Garilli (she/her) as our Post-Secondary Support Program Manager!?? Dakota joins ARYSE with a wealth of experience in youth advocacy, education, and therapeutic support. Dakota, a licensed social worker, brings 10 years of experience working with Pittsburgh-area youth and families to address challenges related to mental health, systemic inequities, and community empowerment. In her interview, Dakota shared that she has always sought environments where values of empowerment, interdependence, and freedom are prioritized. She views her role at ARYSE as an opportunity to continue advocating for the dignity, worth, and success of Pittsburgh’s vulnerable youth. To learn more about Dakota and hear directly from her, please read the newsletter we just sent out. Welcome Dakota, we’re so happy to have you!?? #ARYSEandshine

With the first Youth Steering Committee (YSC) meeting of the 24-25 school-year happening this month, we are excited to introduce Chance as our Youth Leadership Development Intern!?? Chance first joined ARYSE as a student in 2020 and quickly became a leader, being chosen as a CIT at PRYSE Academy in 2021. In 2022 and 2023, he worked as a counselor at PRYSE and throughout 2024 would volunteer at some of our programs. As a member of the Youth Steering Committee from 2021-2023, Chance is a great fit for this role where he will use his experience as a student and member of the YSC to guide his work. Chance will be working closely with Jenna and Meg and support in the development and implementation of programming focused on youth leaders’ professional development and engagement with ARYSE. He will also attend meetings and advocacy events focused on supporting immigrant and refugee communities, contributing to our broader efforts to address systemic issues and barriers affecting our communities. Chance, we are so happy to have you as a member of our team!?? #ARYSEandshine

On October 19th, our Girls Art and Maker Group met for the first time for the 2024-2025 school year with 11 students in attendance!?? Students spent the morning getting to know one another, discussing the upcoming program year, had photoshoots with our Polaroid camera, and built their own journal. In the afternoon, our artist partner, Zuly, led the students in a social-emotional activity which introduced the concept of “riding the wave of emotions” to students. She also went over a feelings wheel to help put names to the emotions we experience and led a breathing activity to recenter the group. Congratulations to Erica for an amazing first session, we are so grateful for you! We look forward to seeing everything you and our students create this year. #ARYSEandshine

Yesterday, Fernán and 2 of our students, Naomi and Reol, attended a planning session for the 6th annual Woodland Hills Student Summit which will take place in March! Last year, Fernán was an advisor to one of the student-led groups under the theme of Humanitarian Services. This year, we are so happy that Reol and Naomi will be a part of this experience as student leaders. We look forward to sharing more about their experience in the coming months! #ARYSEandshine

We are excited to share that Sophie has been promoted to Operations and Communications Manager!?? Sophie has been with ARYSE since September 2020 and since then has held many roles. She started as an intern to support the After School Club and various operations needs. Then, in January 2021 she became the Family Communications Coordinator to support our students and their families outside of direct programming. One of her biggest accomplishments in this role was planning Covid-19 vaccine clinics for our families, helping over 100 people get vaccinated. In the late Spring of 2021, Sophie transitioned to supporting PRYSE Academy planning and acted as the CIT Supervisor Assistant in 2021 and then CIT Supervisor in 2022. In this role, she was able to create a positive and welcoming environment for our student leaders. In November 2022, Sophie officially came on full-time at ARYSE as the Operations Assistant. In this role, she has led volunteer coordination across the organization, supported enrollment for all programs, especially PRYSE Academy, attended countless program sessions to ensure staff were supported, assisted with various operations initiatives and hiring processes, and so much more. Sophie’s new position of Operations and Communications Manager starts an exciting chapter for both her and ARYSE. In this role, she will draw on her extensive experience with the organization to continue enhancing our operations and strengthening our communications. We’re so grateful to have you, Sophie and look forward to seeing you grow in this role! #ARYSEandshine

We are proud to share that the Turkish Cultural Center of Pittsburgh and Peace Islands Institute Pittsburgh honored us with an award last week at their annual Friendship Dinner. Each year, they recognize individuals and organizations that have made significant contributions to our community, and ARYSE was selected for their “Education” category. Members of our Board and our Senior Program Manager, Fernán, attended the dinner and accepted the award on behalf of the organization. We were especially grateful to receive the award alongside former board member, Holly Hickling of @theGlobalSwitchboard, and current board member, Dr. Maya Ragavan! Please join us in congratulating them, too! It was such a special night, filled with so many caring and talented members of our community. We’re already looking forward to next year! #ARYSEandshine