EcoPower '26 · Nine Weeks

EcoPower '26

I came here because I wanted to actually do something, not just learn about doing something.
01

Day One: "Full"

My word on the first day was full. I had eaten breakfast, and I had shown up. That's a smaller thing than it sounds and also not — showing up is the part most people skip.

02

Roll Call: "Interactive"

By roll call my word was interactive. That's what the summer was: interviews on the street, art hung on a wall, people voting on it, three takes of a video because the audio failed. None of it happened alone.

03

Who Should Be in the Room

I wanted my art teacher Deji at the Report Back, but he was in Germany studying. Keso came back from Georgia the same week I was deep in my sidequest and I made time for both. I think about who should be in the room — that's the through line of everything I worked on.

04

What I'm Taking With Me

Fulfilled relationships and my sidequest. I named both, because both are the work. Spending half my summer in the Flats taught me how communities work, what young people need, and how strong bonds are formed.

Gratitude

People who shaped this work

Jay & Carlisha

Street Interview Framework co-leads

Mel & Rose

Community Report Back logistics

Deji

Art teacher, studying in Germany

Keso

Friend, back from Georgia

On the ground

Places I worked

Gravesend & Coney IslandEast Flatbush / The FlatsBrooklyn College corridorPhiladelphiaCommunity Resilience Hub