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Catalyst for Systems Change

@catalystforsystemschange

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Lighting the fire within the next generation of Leaders.
Let’s make this moment a movement!

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What would you change about Minnesota? Bring it to the Capitol.

Your experiences. Your ideas. A chance to help shape what comes next.

Join young people from across Minnesota at our 4th Annual Changemakers Youth Policy Forum Kickoff. Meet other youth leaders, talk about issues affecting your community, and help identify priorities for the 2027 legislative session.

No policy experience needed. Your perspective is where we start.

November 14 | 10 AM to 3 PM
Minnesota House Chamber, State Capitol, St. Paul
Ages 14–24

• $50 stipend for eligible participants
• Lunch provided
• Transportation support for eligible participants traveling 25 miles or more

From rural towns and cities to suburbs and Native nations, we want your community represented.

Register through the link in our bio, Click it!🗣️

Bring a friend. Share this with someone whose voice belongs in the room.

Hosted by @catalystforsystemschange

#Changemakers #MinnesotaYouth #YouthLeadership #YouthVoice taken in Minnesota State Capitol by @catalystforsystemschange

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An opportunity can change your life. But first, you have to know it exists.

PSEO changed mine. It lets eligible high school students earn college credit tuition-free, yet too many never hear about it.

When schools, colleges, employers, and communities work together, we can connect young people to their strengths, meaningful careers, and Minnesota’s future.

My latest article is out in @minnpost . Link in bio.

Did someone open this door for you? Pass it on to a student or parent who needs to know.

there’s a link in my bio, click it!🗣️👇🏾 taken in Minnesota by @catalystforsystemschange

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10 days ago

How do you make a dollar out of 15 cents?🫴🏾👇🏾

You get creative. You draw on what you know. You connect with people, share resources, and figure things out together.

There’s intelligence in that. Financial education can build on it.

Last Friday at Bethel University, I brought “How Are You Smart With Money?” to MBITE’s panel on “Preparing High School Students for Financial and Career Success.”

Building on my “How Are You Smart?” framework, we explored how lived experience, values, and community connections shape our relationship with money.

Somebody brings time. Somebody brings knowledge. Somebody brings resources or a connection that opens a door. Social capital is the trust and relationships that help us put those strengths to work together.

That’s central to my work as a cultural broker: sharing and listening to build belonging, recognize strengths, and connect people to opportunity.

Thank you to Steve Lear, fellow panelists Jeanna Fifer and Jason Kley, Justin Wittrock and the MBITE team.

Who taught you how to make a dollar out of 15 cents? Share a lesson they passed on in the comment section?

#HowAreYouSmart #CulturalBroker #FinancialEducation taken in Bethel University by @catalystforsystemschange

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11 days ago

We spend a lot of time asking people, “How smart are you?”

I’m more interested in asking, “How are you smart?”

That question creates space to recognize the gifts, experiences, passions, and perspectives people already carry.

What began as a way for me to better understand young people is becoming something much bigger. I believe this question can translate across generations, communities, classrooms, boardrooms, and cultures.

Maybe we’ve been asking the wrong question.

We spend a lot of time asking people, “How smart are you?”

I’m more interested in asking, “How are you smart?”

That question creates space to recognize the gifts, experiences, passions, and perspectives people already carry.

I shared this idea recently during my Beyond Youth Voice session at the Are We There Yet? Summit, hosted by @cghere_usa

What began for me as a way to better understand young people is becoming something much bigger. I believe this question translates across generations, communities, classrooms, boardrooms, and cultures.

How are you smart, and who helped you recognize it?

As always, dreams don’t work until you do!

🎥 @dantescraft by @catalystforsystemschange

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2 months ago

Welcome to our newly admitted Post-Secondary Enrollment Options (PSEO) students! We're excited to welcome so many of you—and your families—to campus for PSEO Campus Exploration Day. This year's event is even more meaningful as we celebrate 40 years of PSEO at the University of Minnesota. We hope you enjoy meeting fellow students, exploring the Twin Cities campus, and taking your first steps as a University of Minnesota PSEO student!

#dualenrollment #postsecondaryenrollmentoptions #studentleaders A group of PSEO students gather on the UMN campus by @catalystforsystemschange

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What if we’ve been asking young people the wrong question all along?

For generations, we’ve asked, “How smart are you?”

At @catalystforsystemschange , we ask a different question:

“How are you smart?”

That shift changes everything.

The greatest barrier to lasting change isn’t a lack of potential. It’s a lack of meaningful responsibility.

Too often, we ask young people to wait their turn. We tell them they’re the leaders of tomorrow while excluding them from the decisions that shape today.

We believe there’s a better way.

At Catalyst for Systems Change, we don’t simply help young people find their voices. We help them use those voices to write legislation, influence public policy, build partnerships across communities, and solve real problems alongside adults.

This year’s legislative victories didn’t happen by accident. They happened because young people weren’t invited to observe democracy. They were trusted to shape it.

Our work is rooted in an intergenerational framework where wisdom is shared, lived experience is honored, and leadership is transferred through meaningful responsibility. When generations work together, we don’t just prepare young people for the future. We build a better future together.

Potential doesn’t change the world.

Meaningful responsibility does.

As Denzel Washington once said, “Use what you have to help others. You can’t take it with you, but you can leave it here.”

That is the legacy we’re working to build.

The next generation doesn’t need another seat at the kids’ table.

They need a seat where decisions are made.

So I’ll leave you with one question:

Who are you trusting with meaningful responsibility today? taken in Minneapolis, Minnesota by @catalystforsystemschange

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3 months ago

Young people don’t need another seat at the kids’ table. They need a seat where decisions are made.

Because democracy isn’t something young people should inherit. It’s something they should help build.

At Catalyst for Systems Change, we believe young people must inherit our wisdom, but never our limitations.

Too often, community organizing is measured by the number of meetings held. We believe it should be measured by the lives changed and the systems transformed.

Our work begins with listening to young people from rural, suburban, and urban communities. Then we help them turn their priorities into action by researching issues, meeting with legislators, building coalitions, testifying before committees, and helping shape the policies that affect their lives. That is what real world learning looks like.

Our goal isn’t simply to pass legislation. It’s to develop people, not just programs. Every policy victory is also a leadership victory because a young person walks away knowing their voice matters and that they have the power to create change today.

This work is possible because of the partnerships we’ve built with youth, educators, legislators, community leaders, and organizations across Minnesota. Systems change happens when we choose to lead together.

Thank you to the Minnesota Spokesman Recorder for highlighting the incredible young leaders who continue to show us what’s possible.

The future isn’t waiting. It’s already leading.

There’s a link in my bio, click it!

#YouthLeadership #SystemsChange #PublicPolicy #CommunityOrganizing #Education Leadership CivicEngagement Minnesota CatalystForSystemsChange taken in Minneapolis, Minnesota by @catalystforsystemschange

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3 months ago

Some nights stay with you long after the room empties.

Last Thursday was one of those nights.

Looking around the room, I saw something I’ll never forget.

Legislators from both sides of the aisle standing beside young people they have mentored, encouraged, and worked alongside over the past several years.

Not because these young people are the leaders of tomorrow.

Because they’re leading today.

One lesson has shaped how I approach this work:

Inherit adult wisdom, but never their limitations.

When we trust young people with meaningful responsibility, they rise to the occasion. They strengthen communities. They shape policy. They remind us that leadership isn’t about age. It’s about service.

Watching our Changemakers stand shoulder to shoulder with legislators after a year of advocating for issues that matter to them was a full circle moment that filled me with hope.

These moments don’t happen because of one organization.

They happen because families, educators, legislators, community partners, volunteers, funders, and young people across Minnesota choose to believe in one another.

Thank you to everyone who has walked alongside this journey.

Together, we’re proving that the greatest investment we can make isn’t simply in young people.

It’s trusting them with meaningful responsibility.

This is what civic leadership looks like.

As always, dreams don’t work unless you do! taken in Minnesota by @catalystforsystemschange

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When the work starts speaking for itself, you know you’re building something bigger than yourself.

The Change Makers have spent the last year proving that young people don’t have to wait to make a difference. They’re already doing it.

Now it’s time to celebrate what we’ve accomplished together.

If you believe in investing in the next generation, this night is for you.

Join us on July 9th and hear directly from the young leaders shaping Minnesota’s future.

Don’t meet me there.

Beat me there.

🎟️ Admission is free, dinner is provided, and tickets are going fast. Reserve your spot today before we’re at capacity. Link in bio. taken in Minnesota by @catalystforsystemschange

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What happens when young people are given the opportunity to lead?

This video is a glimpse of what’s possible.

At Catalyst for Systems Change, we help young people use and strengthen their academic skills to create impact beyond the classroom. From expanding access to PSEO and advancing opioid education to addressing youth homelessness, mental health, peer support, and community safety, our Change Makers are learning that they can make a difference in the world right now.

Growing up, I was taught to get my education, develop my talents, and bring those gifts back to the community.

Somewhere along the way, that idea got lost.

We’re here to bring it back.

Not as it was, but better than it has ever been.

This is what active citizenship looks like.

As @tavitreadway Tav says, “Everybody’s carrying something great.” Our role is to help young people discover those gifts, strengthen them, and use them in service of others.

On July 9, we’ll celebrate a year of impact and hear directly from the young leaders who are helping shape Minnesota’s future.

As a birthday gift to me, I have one simple request:

Show up for our young people.

Register through the link in my bio.

#ChangeMakersMN #YouthLeadership #ActiveCitizenship #EverybodysCarryingSomethingGreat #morelife taken in Minnesota by @catalystforsystemschange

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4 months ago

68% of Minnesota schools reviewed were not fully complying with state law requiring accurate PSEO information for students.

That means thousands of young people may never even learn about one of the most life changing educational opportunities available to them.

This week, youth leaders from across Minnesota stood at the State Capitol alongside People for PSEO and Catalyst for Systems Change to release the 2026 PSEO Information Gap Report and call for accountability, transparency, and equal access to opportunity.

For me, this issue is personal.

As the only Black male in my high school taking advantage of PSEO, I remember being discouraged from pursuing the opportunity. I chose to bet on myself anyway. That decision changed the trajectory of my life.

Every student deserves the chance to make that choice for themselves.

Too often, systems decide which students are “college material” before young people ever get the chance to decide for themselves. We should have high expectations for all students.

Proud of the Changemakers, students, families, educators, and partners helping lead this statewide conversation and pushing Minnesota toward a future where access to information is not determined by zip code, race, or background.

Thank you to Minnesota Spokesman Recorder for helping amplify the voices and experiences of young people across our state.

When students are denied information, they are denied possibility.

As always, Dreams don’t work until you do! ✨🫱🏿‍🫲🏾📈

Photos: @dantescraft taken in Minnesota State Capitol by @catalystforsystemschange

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Minnesota schools are legally required to share PSEO info, but the new PSEO info gap report says 68% of districts are breaking state law. Join the press conference Friday at 10 AM in Capitol Room B971 with Beatrice Handlin and Khalique Rogers to learn more or read the full PSEO info gap report on our blog! #PSEO #MN #statelaw #highschool by @catalystforsystemschange

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