OUR APPRENTICES & MENTORS
Interested in Applying to be a Mentor or Apprentice?
Apprentice and mentor applications for the 2010 apprentice cohort will be released prior to the new year and will be posted on the AOP web site upon release. The 2010 cohort will kick off in March, 2010 and will run for 7 months.
AOP is proud to have worked with a diverse group of apprentices and mentors in our first three years of programming. Through our apprenticeship program, AOP has partnered with, among others:
Making Connections Milwaukee
Hmong American Friendship Association
9 to 5 National Association of Working Women
Citizen Action of Wisconsin
GSA for Safe Schools
The Arc of Racine
Campaign Against Violence
Independent Living Council of Wisconsin
Wisconsin Coalition of Independent Living Centers
Urban Underground
Institute for Wisconsin's Future
The Arc of Winnebago County
The Arc of Milwaukee County
LOV-Dane/Waisman Center
Voces de La Frontera
WI-ADAPT
Wexford Ridge Neighborhood Center/Women Rise Up
Freedom Inc
League of Conservation Voters
Meet Current and Recent Mentors
Brian Juchems - Program Director
Brian Juchems serves as GSA for Safe School's Program Director. Brian holds a B.A. from Luther College and has extensive experience with social justice and working with youth. In addition, he is a sought-after experiential education presenter who has worked extensively in the K-12 school system and other settings. He has been involved with our organization since 1998. He has also served as a Youth Development Specialist for Briarpatch and as Director of the University of Wisconsin-Madison LGBT Campus Center. Brian maintains close relationships with student leaders and school personnel, provides schools with technical assistance and consultations, and coordinates our conferences and trainings.
"My day to day work involves developing and mentoring student organizers, so AOP's mission to build a bigger and stronger community of grassroots organizers resonated with and was exciting to me. What surprised me about the experience of being a mentor was how much I learned about being an organizer-- the mentor/apprentice relationship is a two-way street of learning, and AOP was there to further fuel the learning."
Meet the 2009 AOP Apprentices
AOP is proud to introduce its 2009 program participants!
AOP has again partnered with an exciting set of placement organizations, and a talented group of established organizers who have joined us as our 2009 AOP mentors. Each mentor is working closely in the field with an AOP apprentice, and collaborating with AOP in the development of his/her apprentice during the 7 month apprenticeship.
The 2009 apprentice cohort is a diverse group--representing a wide range of communities and interest areas, bound by a deep commitment to achieving justice. Each apprentice is working in his/her own community, on an organizing effort of his/her mentoring organization. Apprentices are also engaged in cross community organizing, and supporting and/or collaborating with other members of the cohort in the field. As pictured above from left to right, this year’s AOP apprentice cohort consists of:
Lang Xiong, who is organizing around health care issues effecting Milwaukee’s Hmong community through his placement at the Hmong American Friendship Association.
Brenda Harmon is interested in social justice issues impacting special needs children within the Milwaukee Public Schools and is organizing with the Resident Leader Program of Making Connections Milwaukee.
Monica Adams is completing her AOP apprenticeship with Madison’s Freedom Inc, where she is organizing around issues impacting LGBTQ youth of color.
Juan Ruiz is completing his apprenticeship with Voces de La Frontera. Based in Racine, Juan is building Voces’ member to member program and organizing around a variety of issues related to immigration reform.
Apprentice Todd Sprewer joined AOP while organizing with the Good Jobs and Livable Neighborhoods Coalition in support of the MORE ordinance--an important piece of legislation aimed at ensuring fair hiring practices within Milwaukee’s low income and communities of color.