Janiece is a Colorado native and grew up in Aurora, Colorado. She is a wife to her high school sweetheart and mother of four children. Janiece has built her career of service and leadership from her narrative. She has been involved in politics since 17 years old and noticed that she was often the only youth of color. She knew youth of color either weren’t interested in civic engagement or they didn’t have a conduit to civically engage in our communities. Due to being one of a few Blacks within academic, political, and professional spaces, she created an organization entitled Young Aspiring Americans for Social and Political Activism (YAASPA) to provide a conduit for youth of color to become civically engaged in community and career. She has had a direct impact on youth and the education system through counseling, lobbying, mentoring, researching, and teaching. She is a Black social scientist with a zealous commitment to social justice and creating innovative experiences for youth who will pursue social science academic and career development. Due to her converging interests in education and policy, she also teaches Ethnic Studies and Political Science as an Adjunct Faculty. She is also pursuing a PhD in Higher Education with a Public Policy and Curriculum and Instruction emphasis at the University of Denver.
By reflecting upon her counter-narrative, she was able to place “her story” into a larger sociopolitical context that reflects not just “her story,” but that of many youth of color. She desires to deepen, further develop, and expand “healing praxis” for more youth and professionals within the public service sector. She believes that those who commit to transformational justice and equity must validate and innovate academic and career experiences that will sustain, retain, and rejuvenate youth and professionals of color who commit to “transformational praxis.”
Thus, Janiece has presented at many local and national conferences to encourage conversations concerning the nexus racial identity development, civic engagement, and education. After completing her PhD, she hopes to continue her endeavors with YAASPA, become a professor who teaches and conducts research concerning racial and educational equity, and be elected to public office.
What are you looking forward to as a fellow of TLC?
“Being a TLC fellow will enable to me to be in a space that cultivates my creative genius reflective of my intersecting identities, but particularly my racial identity. Having the opportunity to be among other leaders of color who have exuded such brilliance in our communities in versatile ways is humbling and an honor. I know that I will glean so much wisdom and culturally relevant knowledge in this space led by and created for leaders of color. I am looking forward to the opportunity to engaging in reflexive ways that allows for us to build with each other not only for our communities, but also for our own necessary self-care and self-efficacy in doing transformative work.“