Better Future Program envisions a future in which youth are not only empowered to challenge oppressive hierarchies each day, but to create innovative and inclusive frameworks of community care and intersectional justice.
Our MIssion
Our mission is to globally expand peer-led political education, support, and imagination for marginalized youth. Here at Better Future Program, we recognize that all forms of oppression are intrinsically interconnected, therefore our liberation is tied as well. All power to ALL the people. But for this to be possible, youth need access to revolutionary education, to not only learn about the systems actively working against them, but the dual power, the new structures, we are already innovating, together. Further, youth need emotional, financial, and academic support, as well as the creativity and drive to thrive. It's easy to feel hopeless in these trying times but with the right tools, we can build an inclusive, informed, and intersectional future like no other!
OUR guiding principles
BFP promotes the following core values as guiding principles in our behavior and decision-making:
- Youth-Centricity → As a youth-run organization, we center the voices, priorities, and well-being of marginalized youth globally in every decision we make and action we take
- Self-Liberation → All volunteers should be at the forefront of their own liberation. Allies are meant to uplift, not overstep
- Transparency → We willingly share information pertaining to all BFP-related actions and intentions, both successes and failures, so as to remain open and honest
- Accountability → We hold ourselves and one another responsible for meeting expectations set by our organization, including tasks as well as behavior, with an eye to fairness regarding capabilities and knowledge
- Horizontality → We value the decision-making abilities of our volunteers and thus, we wish to foster power alongside one another rather than over each other
- Community → We value the impact of a shared story (e.g. location, political alignment, racial identity), collaboration, and an effective support system
- Intersectionality → We recognize how various aspects of a person's social and political identities combine to create different modes of discrimination and privilege
Our core beliefs
As written by various of our volunteers, Better Future Program wholeheartedly believes in and continues to support:
. . . and all other liberatory movements of the proletariat!
- The right to organize → Communities should be allowed to come together in order to generate collective power for the powerless
- Educational equity → Ensuring that all people, regardless of their background or circumstances, have equitable access to high-quality education, resources, opportunities, and support in order to excel
- Youth liberation → Addressing childism, we must dismantle the oppressive power dynamics which seek to strip youth of their identities and ability to create meaningful change in the world and in their individual lives
- Anti-racism → The conscious and deliberate opposition to racism, advocating for equity, dismantling systemic discrimination, and promoting justice and equality for all races and ethnicities
- Religious liberty → The freedom of individuals and communities to freely practice, express, and manifest their religious beliefs without discrimination or coercion, while respecting the rights and freedoms of others
- Disability justice → An intersectional, cross-disability (physical and mental) framework that uplifts wholeness, collective access, and interdependence for all people on both an individual and systemic level (includes Mad liberation)
- Climate action → The collective measures taken by individuals, communities, organizations, and governments to mitigate the causes of climate change, adapt to its impacts, and work towards a more environmentally sustainable future with an eye to intersectionality
- Decolonization → The undoing of colonialism, restoring Indigenous communities' fundamental right to freely choose their sovereignty and international political status (known as self-determination), and fostering equitable relationships that respect diverse cultures and histories
- Gender equity → All people deserve equitable access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender identity or expression, including economic participation and decision-making, inclusive spaces, and the ability to safely challenge dominant understandings of gender identity
- Queer/LGBTQ+ liberation → All people deserve equitable access to opportunities on an individual and systemic level regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression, inclusive spaces, and the ability to safely challenge dominant understandings of sexuality and gender
- Bodily autonomy → All people deserve the right to make educated, uncoerced decisions about their own bodies, even decisions we may not necessarily agree with
- Fat liberation → Fat people deserve equitable healthcare, all-encompassing accessibility, and respect, free from systemic oppression due to body shape, size, and/or appearance (includes the promotion of body neutrality and the dismantlement of healthism)
- Abolition → Oppressive systems like policing and mass incarceration are inherently flawed, cannot be reformed, and therefore must be replaced with alternatives that focus on the root causes of interpersonal violence through community support and victim/survivor-centered tactics.
- Caste abolition → To eliminate all manifestations of caste apartheid by addressing the historical and ongoing injustices experienced by the communities it marginalizes
- Anti-authoritarianism → An opposition to coercive hierarchies; that autonomy, decentralized decision-making, voluntary cooperation, and mutual aid create a stronger social glue than fear and forced power imbalances
- Anti-capitalism → The working class are deliberately exploited by the wealthy and this economic system must be changed; that the means of production should be owned and democratically controlled by the workers and/or community
. . . and all other liberatory movements of the proletariat!
OUR Beginnings
Better Future Program, Inc. (BFP) started as just a mere idea in 2016 when a 7th grader pondered ways to create healthy food accessibility in the Ninth Ward of New Orleans, Louisiana. But after extensive research led to the discovery of concepts such as redlining and how racism could even affect what food was available in the area, they realized that there was so much more to share with her peers than just healthy recipes. Using these discoveries as fuel to change the world, they decided to start Better Future Program to educate others on these important issues! Our founder immediately created an email and website that same night with the help of a supportive parent, a local business consultant and author.
Soon after, kids from various locations around the world joined the organization, including Ireland and Indonesia, bonded by their love for anime, funnily enough! Through BFP's blog on this very website, contributors shared their opinions, offered homework advice, and wrote amateur articles on current news, each assigned a different day to post. Students were excited to have a respected platform to share their thoughts, and the organization expanded its reach by hosting contests and workshops to provide similar opportunities to others worldwide. After successfully partnering with the vice principal of Lake Forest Charter Elementary to supply over 700 free reading glasses to homeless shelters in New Orleans and Houston, the organization, unfortunately, experienced a decrease in energy as students became more focused on school and other commitments. Eventually, the organization's founder was forced to uphold BFP's mission alone from 2017 until September 2021.
During Hurricane Ida, though, the founder realized the organization could serve as a hub for providing information on shelters, cooling and charging stations, and assisting with emergency responses. Despite facing immense challenges during the hurricane as well, they were determined to help their peers still in New Orleans. This marked the restart of Better Future Program!
Immediate action was taken to create job descriptions and outline necessary roles for an effective operation. Marginalized youth began to apply, and a Discord server was established, enabling new volunteers to collaborate on designing educational workshops, mutual aid networks, and building connections with organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union and Real Name Campaign! This period of growth and collaboration lasted until the spring of 2023.
On March 26, 2023, recognizing the need for improvement, the lack of a clear onboarding process was addressed, leading to the establishment of the Activity & Retention Task Force. This cross-committee team is dedicated to nurturing the BFP community, reinforcing internal procedures and policies, and critically analyzing the organization's successes and failures.
Now, Better Future Program is focused on rebuilding from the ground up, filled with hope for what we can achieve in the future. And so far? Things are actually going great! :)
Soon after, kids from various locations around the world joined the organization, including Ireland and Indonesia, bonded by their love for anime, funnily enough! Through BFP's blog on this very website, contributors shared their opinions, offered homework advice, and wrote amateur articles on current news, each assigned a different day to post. Students were excited to have a respected platform to share their thoughts, and the organization expanded its reach by hosting contests and workshops to provide similar opportunities to others worldwide. After successfully partnering with the vice principal of Lake Forest Charter Elementary to supply over 700 free reading glasses to homeless shelters in New Orleans and Houston, the organization, unfortunately, experienced a decrease in energy as students became more focused on school and other commitments. Eventually, the organization's founder was forced to uphold BFP's mission alone from 2017 until September 2021.
During Hurricane Ida, though, the founder realized the organization could serve as a hub for providing information on shelters, cooling and charging stations, and assisting with emergency responses. Despite facing immense challenges during the hurricane as well, they were determined to help their peers still in New Orleans. This marked the restart of Better Future Program!
Immediate action was taken to create job descriptions and outline necessary roles for an effective operation. Marginalized youth began to apply, and a Discord server was established, enabling new volunteers to collaborate on designing educational workshops, mutual aid networks, and building connections with organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union and Real Name Campaign! This period of growth and collaboration lasted until the spring of 2023.
On March 26, 2023, recognizing the need for improvement, the lack of a clear onboarding process was addressed, leading to the establishment of the Activity & Retention Task Force. This cross-committee team is dedicated to nurturing the BFP community, reinforcing internal procedures and policies, and critically analyzing the organization's successes and failures.
Now, Better Future Program is focused on rebuilding from the ground up, filled with hope for what we can achieve in the future. And so far? Things are actually going great! :)
OUR STRUCTURE
Also known as “flat organizational structure,” all BFP volunteers are placed on an equal standing in order to uplift all perspectives and further promote autonomy, fluidity between responsibilities, efficient lines of communication, optimization of all resources within the organization, and thinking outside of the box.
Taking notes from anti-authoritarianism (the ideal that individuals deserve personal freedoms rather than be forced to submit to coercive hierarchies) and democratic confederalism (created by the Kurdistan Workers Party in their fight against the Turkish government's oppression), BFP reinforces its horizontal organizational structure through the usage of “committees.” Each committee (Administrative Staff, Advocacy Committee, Resources Committee, and General Volunteers) forms its own interdependent goals and initiatives to fulfill which are then presented to the entire group during weekly meetings. Due to BFP’s ever-growing size, committees allow every single volunteer to have a voice in policymaking, event coordination, and project management before such plans reach the larger stage for critique, compromise, and voting. And this is where consensus-based decision making comes into play, which tends to negate the tyranny of the majority by ensuring every concern is acknowledged before moving forward! For more detail, Seeds for Change has a great visual for how this decision-making process can work!
This horizontal organization is also why, at least for the time being, we will remain entirely volunteer-run like many other leftist (particularly abolitionist) grassroots organizations. Being entirely volunteer-run has several advantages: it reflects a commitment to shared principles, empowers grassroots participation, promotes accessibility and inclusivity, resists hierarchies as aforementioned, and allows for flexibility and adaptability. However, there are also, admittedly, challenges: potential burnout among volunteers, limited availability and commitment, potential lack of specialized skills and expertise, high turnover rates and recruitment difficulties, unequal distributions of workload, limited capacity for scaling and impact, and often unclear lines of accountability in task completion.
Striking a balance between the benefits of volunteerism and addressing these challenges is crucial for the success and longevity of organizations like BFP! That’s why we need your help in continuously assessing our successes and failures, remaining honest about your interactions with our organization!
Got any workshop ideas? Let us know and we can work together to bring your dream to fruition!
Taking notes from anti-authoritarianism (the ideal that individuals deserve personal freedoms rather than be forced to submit to coercive hierarchies) and democratic confederalism (created by the Kurdistan Workers Party in their fight against the Turkish government's oppression), BFP reinforces its horizontal organizational structure through the usage of “committees.” Each committee (Administrative Staff, Advocacy Committee, Resources Committee, and General Volunteers) forms its own interdependent goals and initiatives to fulfill which are then presented to the entire group during weekly meetings. Due to BFP’s ever-growing size, committees allow every single volunteer to have a voice in policymaking, event coordination, and project management before such plans reach the larger stage for critique, compromise, and voting. And this is where consensus-based decision making comes into play, which tends to negate the tyranny of the majority by ensuring every concern is acknowledged before moving forward! For more detail, Seeds for Change has a great visual for how this decision-making process can work!
This horizontal organization is also why, at least for the time being, we will remain entirely volunteer-run like many other leftist (particularly abolitionist) grassroots organizations. Being entirely volunteer-run has several advantages: it reflects a commitment to shared principles, empowers grassroots participation, promotes accessibility and inclusivity, resists hierarchies as aforementioned, and allows for flexibility and adaptability. However, there are also, admittedly, challenges: potential burnout among volunteers, limited availability and commitment, potential lack of specialized skills and expertise, high turnover rates and recruitment difficulties, unequal distributions of workload, limited capacity for scaling and impact, and often unclear lines of accountability in task completion.
Striking a balance between the benefits of volunteerism and addressing these challenges is crucial for the success and longevity of organizations like BFP! That’s why we need your help in continuously assessing our successes and failures, remaining honest about your interactions with our organization!
Got any workshop ideas? Let us know and we can work together to bring your dream to fruition!