Meet Sheldon Gibson: empowering underrepresented youth to vote
The YMCA LA leader views community as a catalyst for social change
Sheldon Gibson has been a change agent his entire life. Having worked for the YMCA Los Angeles organization for over 10 years, he gained extensive experience and developed a deep passion for being a mentor to the youth — recognizing that it’s critical that they have a strong foundation to build upon as the leaders of tomorrow. From camp counseling, to overseeing various teen programs under the YMCA remit, Sheldon relished the opportunity to foster a community of collaboration, with a particular focus on bringing equity to the forefront of many activities that the YMCA is involved in — and his impact spanned various sites around the country.
Sheldon recognized a strong synergy between the work he does on a daily basis and the values that Call for Code for Racial Justice stand for — a culture of diversity, inclusion, and ensuring that all individuals have a seat at the table to drive social change. Drawing from this synergy, Sheldon was quick to develop a plan in collaboration with the Call for Code team where both organizations can push technology forward to solve some of the most pressing racial injustices currently present in society today. One injustice that is experienced by people of color and disenfranchised communities revolves around the idea of voter suppression — and this is where the Five Fifths Voter solutions comes in to help. By identifying correct polling stations, notifying users of requirements needed for their state, and personal circumstances as it pertains to different types of voting, deadlines, and quick access to information, this tech solution combats voter suppression and drives equity for all communities when it’s time to hit the polls.
Sheldon engaged and encouraged the youth groups that he leads at YMCA LA to get involved — resulting in the implementation of valuable enhancements to the Five Fifths Voter solution, like making the technology translatable for over 10 languages prevalent in the LA area and building in resources for young voters to prepare themselves to vote in upcoming elections.
We were able to catch up with Sheldon to discuss his experience working with the Call for Code team, and how he sees collaboration being part and parcel to social change:
Racial injustice is a massive societal issue that no one person can solve on their own. Explain the value of community and collaboration when dealing with large, pervasive problems, and why individuals should feel empowered to join the fight for racial equity through the Call for Code.
Collaboration is probably one of the most powerful tools we have as a society. Not only do you help lessen the burden but you broaden the perspectives and opinions which help us build something where everyone benefits. Call for Code is doing exactly that. I think we all know the benefits of tech and I think it’s even more important to make sure tech stays as diverse as possible and one of the ways we can do that is through collaboration as individuals and organizations.
We’ve seen through Call for Code that solutions come from anywhere, and anybody. What would you say to those who are considering participating in Call for Code, but may not have adept tech experience but still want to make an impact on the world?
I think it important to see the value in less tech-savvy who may have skill sets in other areas that can be very valuable to building a solution for people of all kinds. Call for Code has been great at building relationships with community partners who really have a pulse on the need of the people.
Five Fifths Voter is proving to be a viable solution for society, where and how else can you see the application of technology being utilized to address other systemic societal issues revolving around combating racial injustice?
We all walk around with smartphones. Sometimes I forget that my phone is more than just a tool for taking pictures and escaping reality — but a tool that has the ability to supply people with information and access that our (black)ancestors did not have access to. For example, the ability to find a business that caters to our varying identities is a great way to support marginalized communities and can be achieved through technology. At a broad level, technology also has a role to play in opening up the discussion of racial injustice in general — allowing an individual to voice their opinions and experiences as a disenfranchised member in society. Change starts with a discussion, and technology allows for this discussion to be shared at scale.
Explain why an organization like YMCA LA is such a strong teammate to Call for Code for Racial Justice? (perhaps talk about the relevance to racial injustice, preparing our future leaders to understand policy, etc.)
The Y has always been a catalyst for its varying communities and we have a history of working with partners that have varying skill sets to help support those communities. Our expertise lies in bringing people together. With our Youth & Government program we bring teens into a space that allow them to think critically, speak their truth and learn to be engaged throughout the entire process of democracy. With Call for Code we are moving from learning about advocacy to putting advocacy into action. After the last 2 years of seeing people hurt by racial injustices, our teens are ready to shift the narrative. Like most people, they were activated and upset by not being able to affect change. We debate various topics all the time and one that comes up is lowering the voting age and one of the points the teens always bring up is that they are allowed to work elections and handle people’s ballots but they are not allowed to vote themselves. Our work with the Five Fifths solution is getting them closer to affecting democracy in ways that they couldn’t imagine.
Sheldon is shepherding social change by turning his passion into purpose and inspiring future generations to do the same. Do you want to make an impact? You can join the Call for Code for Racial Justice initiative by getting involved in these open source projects.
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