Community Ambassadors Initiative: A Photo Essay
Community Ambassadors Initiative: A Photo Essay
 The Initiative
The Initiative
 The Youth
The Youth
 The Ambassadors
The Ambassadors
 MSP MetroTransit
MSP MetroTransit
 Tim & Sasha
Tim & Sasha
 The Organizers
The Organizers
 Tomas Smith, former Police Chief of St. Paul Police Department
Tomas Smith, former Police Chief of St. Paul Police Department
 Billy Collins, Consulting Director of Community Ambassadors Initiative
Billy Collins, Consulting Director of Community Ambassadors Initiative
 Joel Franklin J.D., Project Manager Community Ambassadors Initiative
Joel Franklin J.D., Project Manager Community Ambassadors Initiative
 Joe of Community Ambassadors Initiative
Joe of Community Ambassadors Initiative
 A St. Paul youth poses for my Community Ambassador Initiative Portrait Project
A St. Paul youth poses for my Community Ambassador Initiative Portrait Project
 Another youth poses for Community Ambassador Initiative Portrait Project
Another youth poses for Community Ambassador Initiative Portrait Project
Community Ambassadors Initiative: A Photo Essay
Community Ambassadors Initiative: A Photo EssayThe year 2016 has forged difficult conversations around the issues of racial justice and police-community relations. These conversations have tasked cities to ask themselves an increasingly important question: how can we keep youth, particularly youth of color, safe and ensure they are thriving? A grassroots movement in St. Paul backed by the St. Paul Police Department, the city, and philanthropic organizations is on a mission to heal police-community relationships in order to advance the wellbeing of their communities. The initiative name? The Community Ambassadors Initiative (CAI). While one of the aims of CAI is to prevent young people from interacting with the criminal justice system, the scope of the Initiative goes beyond prevention. CAI connects young people with community services and creates pathways to employment opportunities for young Minnesotans facing some of the greatest disparities in access.
The Initiative
The InitiativeThe Initiative places youth workers, Community Ambassadors, on the streets in spaces that are highly frequented by young people. These youth might be coming home from school or going to work, or perhaps they are experiencing housing instability. These Ambassadors not only establish relationships with the young people who travel through public spaces, but forge relationships with the police themselves. When I hit the streets talking to young people and Ambassadors in St. Paul, many of the discussions centered on keeping youth safe and connecting them with resources within their communities. How can we ensure that interactions between young people of color and police deescalate? How can we work to connect young people with services that can support them?
The Youth
The YouthRecent instances of violence between young people of color and police serve as a reminder that in the Twin Cities there is much work to be done in building trust between communities of color and the law enforcement who work in their neighborhoods.
The Ambassadors
The AmbassadorsThe Community Ambassadors Initiative illustrates the importance of cross-sector collaboration and the value of building authentic relationships with young people. The partnership between the city, law enforcement, philanthropic organizations and youth-serving organizations and the expertise and resources each of these organizations brings is crucial to the success of the project. Key partners include the Hallie Q. Brown Community Center, Saint Paul Mayor’s Office, Saint Paul Police Department, Metro Transit Police and the Greater Saint Paul Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA). Cross-sector partnerships between funders like Youthprise, city organizations and private partners leverage resources and expertise that are required to achieve the ultimate goal: to keep young people safe and ensure they are thriving.
MSP MetroTransit
MSP MetroTransitWalking toward the Light Rail on University and Snelling. / St. Paul, MN, 2016
Tim & Sasha
Tim & SashaTim and Sasha riding on the Light Rail heading downtown St. Paul. / St. Paul, MN, 2016
The Organizers
The Organizers(Left to Right) Joel, Tomas and Billy at the Hallie Q. Brown Community Center“The ambassadors helped us create that environment and reduce the negative forces that drive young people to negative outcomes. Our mission is to help young people stay out of the criminal justice system and develop better relationships between their peers and community members, including police officers.”
Tomas Smith, former Police Chief of St. Paul Police Department
Tomas Smith, former Police Chief of St. Paul Police DepartmentOn the effectiveness of the Community Ambassadors Initiative and its impact on the relationship between police and youth of color:“This is a great model. And what makes it so effective is that my partners keep me accountable, a major part of being in a leadership position, we need to have tough conversations about methods police use when interacting with youth and focus more on creating environments that keep youth safe with models of sustainable growth.”
Billy Collins, Consulting Director of Community Ambassadors Initiative
Billy Collins, Consulting Director of Community Ambassadors Initiative“The term “ambassador” is to speak to the rooted relationships established between the youth workers and young people of color. These youth workers are deemed the individuals who are best fit to mitigate the complex relationship between the officers and youth of color. And the intention at the end of the day is to provide much needed healing and educating between the ambassadors and both parties.”
Joel Franklin J.D., Project Manager Community Ambassadors Initiative
Joel Franklin J.D., Project Manager Community Ambassadors Initiative“One thing I learned is that we say consequences can interrupt a behavior but it doesn’t teach them positive behavior. The Community Ambassadors Initiative works to expose these youth to people that make them feel good, motivate them, inspire them, and then help them be to successful.”
Joe of Community Ambassadors Initiative
Joe of Community Ambassadors InitiativeEn route to downtown St. Paul. / St. Paul, MN, 2016
A St. Paul youth poses for my Community Ambassador Initiative Portrait Project
A St. Paul youth poses for my Community Ambassador Initiative Portrait Project“I met Tim and Steph at the Rec Center. I grew up around good people and been around bad people. The program kept me out of trouble, got me a job, I aint been around negative people in a long time, I’ve been chillen. Safety mean not getting harassed by the police, staying away from negative things, not going to jail. Basically dodging all the criminal stuff. The environment you live in really determines how you thrive.”
Another youth poses for Community Ambassador Initiative Portrait Project
Another youth poses for Community Ambassador Initiative Portrait Project“I met Mr. tim when I was 7, and Steph helped stay out of trouble, he’s always been a great leader. Mr. Richard, I just met him. He’s a good person. I’m 17. In the 10 years I’ve been in the program, learned a lot of leadership, taking good advice, and staying out of trouble.”
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