Activating the Artivist with
​Radical Imagination and Youth-Led Systems

In this interactive session, educators and youth organizers will explore how to merge creative performance with strategic civic action to activate high school "artivists." Drawing on Ruha Benjamin’s Imagination: A Manifesto participants will experience a scaffolded workshop model that connects personal wellness to structural reform. Attendees will leave with classroom-ready worksheets, youth narrative case studies, and practical tools to guide young creators from personal expression to dual-horizon community advocacy.

Presented by...

Janelle (Jei) Lawrence is a Special Education Teacher, High School Arts Department Chair, and Adjunct Professor teaching film and performing arts in New York. A certified meditation teacher, practicing herbalist, and Juilliard Extension alumna in composition and music production, Jei integrates culturally responsive pedagogy, restorative justice, and creative storytelling into youth leadership programs. They are the composer and playwright behind musical theater works including Rosalind & Juliet, A Raisin' On Up, and Beastgirl, as well as the founder of Mindful Medicine by Jei and Lemon Balm Productions.
Stage the Change is co-sponsored by Stage the Change, Inc.
The Tilles Center for the Performing Arts and Hauppauge Public Schools.
Stage the Change programs are made possible with funds from the
Arts Reach Fund at The New York Community Trust, Long Island; the Long Island Unitarian Universalist Fund at New York Community Trust; and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the
​Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
This work is supported by Long Island Grants for the Arts through funds provided by the office of the Governor and the
New York State Legislature, and administered by The Huntington Arts Council. 
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