S.O.W. Leadership Development Institute

Sowing Seeds Into The Spirits of People Everywhere

Every Person is Born Empowered.

 

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Our model employs a broad spectrum of activities and services to achieve its program goals and objectives. These services are tailored to meet the needs of this unique population and include programming that promotes positive youth development and group cohesiveness. The S.O.W. leadership model utilizes a holistic approach to combat the social challenges that youth and their families face today. This multi-faceted approach includes, but is not limited to, discussion groups, experiential and participatory learning, leadership development, team building, academic enrichment, literacy skills enhancement, conflict resolution and decision making, critical and consequential thinking, political activism, community organizing and life skills development.

 

In addition to receiving training and support in these critical life areas, students are engaged in recreational, social and cultural enrichment experiences. They are guided through a series of structured, goal-oriented activities that are based on concepts that promote character development, critical thinking, self-esteem and self-actualization. These experiences also offer young people the opportunity to be self-reflective, creative and communicative and to build meaningful, mutually satisfying relationships with their families, their peers and their communities.

 

 

The S.O.W. Leadership Development Institute (S.O.W.)™ was established in 2002 by two youth development professionals and community organizers, Monica C. Dennis and Shawnee Benton-Gibson, LMSW, who recognized the importance of developing community-based youth programming to address the myriad needs of youth of color, more specifically girls. S.O.W. engages youth in a process by which they are prepared to meet the challenges of youth and adulthood through a series of coordinated and progressive of rituals and experiences.

 

This process involves the entire community and aids the youth in becoming socially, morally, emotionally, physically, cognitively and spiritually whole. The S.O.W. Rites of Passage Collective anchors young people as they develop clearly defined relationships with themselves, their peers, their extended family networks and with their communities. The Rites of Passage experience is not to be viewed as a panacea for the complex challenges facing our youth, but rather as preventative medicine administered to foster a positive transformation from adolescence to adulthood. 

S.O.W. Co-Founders & Co-Directors

Monica C. Dennis (L)

Shawnee Benton-Gibson (R)

Inspire ~ Encourage ~ Invest

Make a lasting impact on a young person's life as they shape their voice, identity & purpose.

 

Your donations help us to keep our programs accessible.

 

Please invest in a S.O.W. Teen today!