by Lisa Sampson, Hub Coordinator for Jorge Alvarez High School
posted 8.26.2014
Kweyono pointing to her Hub 2010 staff photo post-graduation at the Hub’s fall Demo Day in 2012
Kweyono first got involved with the Hub back in 2009 when she answered the call for youth who wanted to be involved in designing a youth run space for high school students. She immediately stood out for her enthusiasm, bright smile, and passion for creating.
She was always the person that had the most energy on the team and a natural talent for advocating for and promoting the Hub to anyone and everyone. Kweyono would participate in events where the Hub was being introduced to 8th graders, showing up with style and energy that excited everyone around her.
As the Hub transitioned from its early incarnation as a youth run drop-in space, to a more sophisticated expanded learning strategy, Kweyono stuck with it and continued to spread the word and proudly promote the Hub’s ELOs to high school even as she prepared to graduate. She was there for every major Hub milestone, including the launch of ELOs at the Juanita Sanchez Educational Complex—not even her home school.
During the summer of 2011, she spent her break working with local webmaker Kerri Lemoie and local filmmaker Desi Washington to create a series of videos that highlighted all the range of learning opportunities happening across Providence. Along with the other youth staff members, Kweyono found, documented, and put into a public online calendar, and promoted on social media an ongoing list of all the cool stuff that high school-age youth in Providence could participate in.
A particularly innovative and useful activity that she and the then youth staff did was to survey their high school peers across the city to learn what types of activities they most wanted to be involved after school. Their feedback, which revolved around professional and academic opportunities, helped inform the next iteration of the Hub.
As a young adult, Kweyono still carries herself with a brightness that makes her stand apart. Her fashion sense and penchant for entrepreneurial enterprise has led her to start her own hair styling business while taking college courses. We can’t thank her enough for her early and lasting contributions to the Hub and for instilling a lasting spirit in its vision. It’s a true testament to the power of youth voice and agency.
Thank you, Kweyono!
For more in our 10th Anniversary series…