1st Annual SEND Student Ambassador Fellowship Recap Reel

ABOUT SEND - 🤲 Make a Donation Pledge Today!

Hello, my name is Jason Lee Morgan, and I am the creator of SEND: the Student Empathy Network for Diversity. SEND is a youth-driven initiative bridging cultural divides across Southern California's diverse communities. While California is known for its progressive stance, our schools remain largely segregated, creating barriers to meaningful connections among students from different backgrounds.

The SEND Fellowship is an annual Compton-based Student Ambassador Fellowship that unites high school students through transformative cross-community exchanges. Our mission is to bridge the empathy gap between segregated high school youth and their families through Fellowship, Arts, and Movement. By fostering Intercultural Exchange, Leadership & Service, and Youth Development, SEND builds connections that empower a generation of diverse youth leaders and activists to champion positive social change.

We envision a deeply empathy-driven network of young leaders who shine a light on the rich cultural assets of marginalized communities like Compton, celebrating their people, history, and beauty while cultivating appreciation for the diversity of all communities. Through the power of movement, culture, art, storytelling, and design, SEND inspires authentic relationships that heal divides and promote lasting social impact.

SEND’s mission is more essential now than ever. In a time of deep societal divides, programs like SEND play a vital role in countering polarization by creating authentic connections between youth from different communities that endure for generations. By contributing to SEND, you’re not just funding a program—you’re investing in a future where diverse youth leaders create a more connected, empathetic, and just society. Let’s build this movement together.

ABOUT OUR CAMPAIGN

To launch SEND into its next phase of impact, we are beginning with a pledge drive to raise $30,000 by March 31, 2025. This initial goal will secure the foundation needed to establish fiscal sponsorship, ensuring the program’s long-term sustainability and growth under the stewardship of twiGs Creation, Inc. Building on this success, we aim to raise $80,000 by Giving Tuesday 2025 (December 2), with a stretch goal of $100,000 to expand programming and amplify SEND’s reach.

Funds raised during this campaign will support essential SEND initiatives, including student workshops, community events, a multi-day trip to Stanford’s Design School, the SEND Youth Summit, and our Summer Service Event: a Math & Movement Camp for Compton elementary students. Your contributions will also fund scholarships for SEND Student Fellows, staff stipends for advisors and interns, and local hiring to reinvest in the communities we serve.

SEND is committed to creating lasting impact, starting locally and expanding outward to reach communities nationwide. In 2025, our goal is to raise $80,000 to support core programming, establish fiscal sponsorship, and lay the groundwork for future growth.

This year marks the beginning of our multi-phase vision:

Expanding local programs and partnerships.
Scaling statewide to introduce new Student Ambassador Fellowships.
Building a national network of youth leaders who champion empathy and social impact.

While our immediate focus is on making 2025 a transformative year, SEND's ultimate goal is to raise $10 million to create a nationwide movement for bridging divides, fostering leadership, and inspiring meaningful connections.

ABOUT SEND FOUNDER

Growing up in South Central Los Angeles during the deeply segregated 1980s, I was bussed from my predominantly Black and Brown community to a school in a largely White, Jewish, and Korean area. Every day, I witnessed the stigmas placed on my community and experienced the devastation of events like the Rodney King riots.

Living between these two worlds taught me the power of diverse encounters and relationships, but it also revealed a significant gap: my friends from Northridge rarely visited my neighborhood and missed the opportunity to experience the rich culture and vibrancy of marginalized communities of color.

My story inspired me to bring together historically segregated youth through the power of movement and nature for cross-community appreciation, social healing, and empathy-driven activism. These lived experiences shaped my passion for creating SEND, giving youth the chance to bridge divides, celebrate the beauty of all communities, and lead with empathy and understanding.

Despite significant progress, many students in Southern California still grow up in neighborhoods and attend schools that lack meaningful opportunities to connect with peers from different backgrounds. This geographic and social divide limits their exposure to the diverse perspectives and shared values that strengthen communities. While we may not be able to change the housing landscape, we can create opportunities for young people to bridge these divides, fostering authentic relationships and preparing them to lead with empathy, respect, and collaboration.

SEND offers a solution for anyone passionate about empowering the next generation. By using movement, nature, and the arts, we bring together youth from different communities to engage in cultural exchange and develop as leaders. These experiences support emotional wellness, build community bonds, and prepare students to create meaningful, lasting change. SEND is about more than breaking barriers—it’s about building a network of future leaders united by their commitment to mutual understanding and positive social impact.

ABOUT THE SEND AMBASSADOR FELLOWSHIP

Our project, the SEND Fellowship, is an annual Student Ambassador program that bridges divides between high school students from Compton, Los Angeles, and Orange County. Running from Fall to Summer, this transformative program fosters empathy, leadership, and cross-community connections through workshops, cultural exchanges, and service events.

SEND is more than a fellowship—it’s a movement to create a network of youth leaders who champion diversity, equity, and social impact. In addition to financial contributions, we are seeking program volunteers, workshop facilitators, guest speakers, sister schools, and college or corporate partners to support and expand this initiative. Together, we can empower the next generation to lead with understanding, purpose, and a commitment to positive change.

ABOUT OUR SUPPORTERS

SEND's mission to bridge cultural divides and foster empathy among youth has garnered significant support and recognition. Our initial funding came from a $20,000 grant awarded through the LA Legacy Champion Educator Award, sponsored by the LA84 Foundation, College Football Playoff Foundation, and the LA Sports and Entertainment Commission, recognizing our innovative use of movement, sport, and play to build diverse communities. Our impact and approach to creating inclusive spaces were further showcased on the Annenberg Learner podcast in the episode “LA84 Foundation Part II with Jason Morgan”, where we discussed the power of movement, storytelling, and cultural exchange in education.

In 2024, SEND received additional support from the ProHuman Foundation, a grant-making organization committed to advancing human flourishing through projects that foster empathy and bridge societal divides. Our work was also highlighted in the "Bridging Heroes in the ProHuman Classroom" event during the National Week of Conversation, and our story was shared with a national audience. You can watch the feature here.

Watch: Math teacher in Compton honored ahead of College Football Playoff

ABOUT OUR PARTNERSHIPS

In our ongoing efforts to expand our impact, SEND has joined the Listen First Coalition, a national network of over 500 organizations dedicated to bringing people together across differences to foster understanding and collaboration. Additionally, we have partnered with local nonprofits, including the Plus Me Storytelling Project, Color Compton, and Growing Up Compton (Grow, Unwind, Connect), to amplify our mission and connect youth with meaningful opportunities to lead with empathy.

SEND, a member of the Bridging Movement Alignment Council, is also proud to support the bipartisan Building Civic Bridges Act (BCBA), which seeks to reduce polarization through a nonpartisan Office of Civic Bridgebuilding within AmeriCorps. This initiative would provide grants to civic organizations working to strengthen relationships across divides, a goal closely aligned with SEND's mission to create a more connected and empathetic society.

ABOUT OUR INAUGURAL YEAR

To learn more about our journey and initiatives, follow us on Instagram @sendfellowship. For inquiries or to get involved, please contact us at twiGscreation@gmail.com. Together, we can empower the next generation to lead with empathy and understanding.

ABOUT TWIGS EDUCATION INITIATIVE

The twiGs Education Initiative exists to create and advocate for JOYFUL and equitable educational experiences for communities of color and beyond.

We champion underrepresented stories, talent, cultures, and voices for diversely powerful social and political impact for all.

The twiGs Collaborative leverages decades of educational expertise, field experts, neuroscience, homegrown talent, and the power of Design Thinking and Movement to uniquely craft educational solutions that build upon the four pillars of a twiGs Creation:

Community Empathy and Wellness
Culturally SUSTAINING Equity
Capacity Building and Optimization
Cultivating Purposeful Innovation and Community Asset-Based Problem Solving

The twiGs Education initiative sponsors two primary projects:

"I Too, Am a Mathematician" twiGs Math Equity Project:

The mission of the twiGs Math Equity Project is to increase access to enjoyable, equitable, and empowering mathematical achievement for diverse learners while fostering healthy math identities and communities through culturally sustaining, multi-sensory, and asset-based engagement with students, educators, and families in Los Angeles, Compton, Long Beach, and beyond.

SEND Ambassador Fellowship | Student Empathy Network for Diversity:

At the Student Empathy Network for Diversity (SEND), our mission is to close the empathy gap among disconnected youth communities through the transformative forces of movement, nature, culture, art, story, and design. Simultaneously, we strive to elevate the culturally rich assets, people, and history of marginalized communities, shining a light on the often-overlooked beauty of cities like Compton while fostering an appreciation for diverse communities and beyond.

About SEND's Co-Founders | Jason Lee Morgan and Catherine Borek

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Jason Lee Morgan - 18-year Compton Unified Math Teacher and AVID Director, Dominguez High School

A South Central Los Angeles native, Founder/CEO of twiGs Creation, Inc., Jason Lee Morgan was a “bussed kid” and lived firsthand the inequities of our school system, having to travel an hour outside of his community on a bus each day to receive a quality education. His unique experience with public schools and systemic injustice trauma growing up as a young Black male has empowered him to champion engaging and equitable learning experiences for all families who stay in their local district regardless of zip code or income. His work includes spotlighting the unique assets that exist in the culture and people of stigmatized communities of color.

Some professional accolades include:

Awards

Department of Defense STEM Ambassador Award (Tiger Woods Foundation, 2024)
Legacy Champion Educator Awardee (LA84 Foundation, College Football Playoff Foundation, 2023)
Outstanding Teacher of America Award (Carlston Family Foundation · Jan 2017)
American Graduate Champion (American Graduate, PBS Socal, Jan 2016)
Compton Teacher of the Year (Compton Unified School District, May 2015)
CA League of Schools Region 8 Educator of the Year, 2015)

Media

Keynote Speak

Compton SEND Student Ambassador Fellowship

By twiGs Creation, Inc.

Compton SEND Student Ambassador Fellowship

Bridging Communities Across Zip-Codes for Empathy-Driven Youth Leadership

Team Members