Leaders Igniting Transformation Helps Milwaukee Youth Find Their Voice

MILWAUKEE, WI– At Kozy Community Center, giant post-it notes with questions about school resource officers and student safety covered the walls of a meeting room. The meeting was hosted by Leaders Igniting Transformation, a nonprofit focused on empowering young Black and Brown people in Wisconsin.

Over the course of the afternoon, students shared about what helped them feel safe in their communities, and learned about Act 12, the legislation responsible for the reinstatement of school resource officers in Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS). They brainstormed answers to questions about how officers should be used in schools.

“We provide support to young people to mobilize around issues that they care about,” Kahina Cargile, co-executive director of LIT, said.

LIT, which was founded in 2017, has chapters at the high school and college level, as well as a civics department that brings in people locally from the city of Milwaukee. They offer a fellowship for high school and college students.

The state of Wisconsin does not require civics instruction in its schools, and Cargile said LIT is filling a gap. This year, more than four hundred high school and college students have taken part in LIT through school chapters, fellowships, and citywide meetings,

“We're constantly focused on civic education. We're bringing experts in to explain bills, explain policies,” Cargile said.

During the summer, LIT hosts Black Hogwarts, a paid summer leadership institute aimed at helping students develop the skills they need to organize.

The civic education LIT provides to young people through Black Hogwarts and as fellows helps them develop stronger reading and writing abilities.

“They're building public speaking skills. They're building writing skills, along with learning how to make real change in their communities,” Cargile said.

At the high school level, LIT’s current initiative is focused on making sure that the memorandum of understanding between MPS and the Milwaukee Police department allows high school students to feel safe in the building with police officers. The memorandum has been in effect since early 2025.

Adija A., a high school fellow with LIT, was attending the event with her cousin. Adija said LIT was the first space she had where she could talk about issues that mattered to her.

“I have these people that care as much as I do, and we can actually discuss and try to figure out what we can do about it to stand up for ourselves,” she said.

Adija said she is concerned about school resource officers in her school.

“A lot of times, they abuse their power,” Adija said. “I want to know how I can know these rights and use them effectively and also have other people know that they have these rights within the school system, so that they don't let the school system abuse them.”

LIT offers opportunities for the local community to participate in the process year-round, like the meeting held at the Kozy Community Center.

Connor Grossnickle, development coordinator for LIT, said that he was drawn to LIT by its flexibility and willingness to meet the community’s needs.

“We're trying to make these spaces available to people who wouldn't have that space otherwise,” Grossnickle said. Barriers to civic engagement, like a need for childcare or a meal, are reduced through the spaces LIT provides.

Another goal for LIT is to reach Wisconsin voters about the upcoming midterms elections. The ballot for November features three referendums.

Cargile said LIT is educating Black and Brown voters about the impacts of the referendums through canvassing. From March through December this year, LIT’s nonpartisan canvassers knocked on 50,003 doors and had 1,786 conversations with voters in Milwaukee’s majority-Black and Latino 8th, 12th and 15th aldermanic districts.

“We believe if those demographics are equipped, they have the information, they have the confidence to go vote, that they can really make a change in the city,” Cargile said.

Adija said LIT has taught her that her voice and rights as a young person matter.

“It’s gonna help you be able to make change because at the end of the day, whether you're involved in these things or not, they are going to affect you,” she said.

Abbey Osborn is a fall Fulcrum Fellow. A student at CUNY Newmark Graduate School of Journalism, Abbey focuses on local democracy, public institutions, and youth civic engagement. She brings experience in community reporting and a commitment to amplifying voices often overlooked in political coverage.