Afrofuturism Cohort 2026-2027

Project: Campus Outdoor Grounding Zones 

Ayoub's project will transform outdoor spaces at Cal Poly Pomona and Polytechnic High School into culturally grounded “grounding zones” that foster reflection, imagination and belonging. Co-created with students and community members, the spaces will include digital resources featuring ancestral practices, contemplative traditions and Afrofuturist prompts. The project will also provide a replicable framework for other schools and institutions to create inclusive, Afrofuturist spaces.

Project: Project Exposure 

Brown's project is a pipeline and career exploration program connecting Black and Brown high school and community college students with professionals, campus visits and ongoing mentorship. The program emphasizes sustained relationships and Afrofuturist futures-design, encouraging students to imagine and help create more equitable professional worlds and institutions.

Project: Civic Futures / Redistricting & Community Engagement 

Guzman's project uses community storytelling conversations, or pláticas, to explore how redistricting has affected youth and communities of color in East Los Angeles. Participants will collectively envision and advocate for more equitable political futures, while freely accessible civic engagement resources will extend the project’s impact to schools, community colleges and advocacy organizations.

Project: Black Futures in Health 

Grant's project uses pláticas, or community-centered storytelling conversations, to explore how redistricting has shaped the lives and political representation of youth and communities of color in East Los Angeles. Through these conversations, participants will share their experiences, identify the ways redistricting has affected their communities and collectively imagine more equitable political futures. The project will also create accessible civic engagement resources for schools, community colleges and advocacy organizations, ensuring that the knowledge and perspectives generated through the pláticas remain connected to and benefit the communities involved.

Project: Future Seeds Toolkit 

Guadarrama Tagles' project is an Afrofuturist educational toolkit designed for preschool-age Black, Brown, immigrant and multilingual children in Corona, California. The toolkit will include world-building prompts, speculative visual cards, bilingual English-Spanish mini-stories and an educator guide, using Universal Design for Learning principles to support neurodiverse learners. Available in both digital and print formats, the project will help ensure families have access regardless of internet availability while encouraging children to imagine and shape the futures they want to create.

Project: BIPOC-Centered Monthly Classroom Projects 

Ruiz Dinkins’s project documents and expands a culturally responsive curriculum already implemented in her elementary classroom. Through monthly BIPOC-centered units focused on identity, language, family stories, cultural wealth and aspirations, students are encouraged to recognize their strengths and imagine new possibilities. The project’s Afrofuturist component, From Learner to Activist, supports students in becoming civic agents who can help reshape the systems around them. The freely accessible curriculum will be shared with educators through her school community, grade-level team and Sal Castro Academy EdD cohort.

Project: Youth Leadership & Wellness 

Williams’s project is a Youth Leadership and Wellness workshop series for middle school students of color that connects mental health, educational equity and Afrofuturist practice. Through visioning exercises, artistic expression, storytelling and future school design, students are encouraged to see themselves as creators of their own futures. The project will produce a Vision Report, Ambassador Toolkit, student artwork collection and community showcase to document and share the students’ ideas and experiences.

Project: We Care About Things, High School Journalism & Literacy Curriculum 

Zavala’s project will create a freely accessible high school curriculum that combines independent journalism, graphic design and critical thinking to address the literacy crisis. Through community fieldwork, self-reflection and visual storytelling, students will develop confidence in their writing and learn to communicate their ideas through culturally relevant creative practices. The curriculum will be implemented through Los Angeles Public Library workshops, with pre- and post-assessments measuring changes in students’ attitudes toward writing.