FEEST

FEEST trains youth of color and working-class youth to build collective power and organize for transformative and systemic change in their schools! Our power comes from building a strong base, developing youth leaders, and running dynamic, radically joyful campaigns for systemic material change. Our work is both youth-led and multigenerational. Our roots started in food justice and through that, we have won systemic improvements in school food in both Highline and Seattle Public Schools. A few of those wins include:

• New Water Bottle Filling Stations - FEEST partnered with the Office of Sustainability and Environment to bring new water bottle filling stations to Rainier Beach High School and Chief Sealth High School, at youth-chosen locations. This was especially significant at Rainier Beach, where there was only 1 clean water station for all students. 
• Police Removed from Seattle Public Schools - FEEST partnered with Black Minds Matter and WA-BLOC in a campaign to have police officers removed from Seattle Public Schools. We created a petition that gathered about 20,000 signatures signed by parents, students, and community members. We presented the petition to the Seattle School Board and worked with School Board Member Brandon Hersey to write a referendum that the board could vote on. The school board voted unanimously to end their partnership with the Seattle Police Department.

Since the 2020 campaign to remove police from Seattle Public Schools, we have expanded our campaign goals to include a wide range of systemic solutions that improve student wellness at school! 

Thanks to the support of our incredible community, our accomplishments continue to grow! In the past year, this has included:

• FEEST is officially running hybrid programming! Our on-campus programming includes meetings, weekly tabling, and hosting on-campus events for students (Like our popular Anger for the Sake of Our Freedom workshop!)

• FEEST youth hosted mental health panels in the Seattle Public & Highline School District! You can read about our most recent Mental Health Panel, or Change Takes Action to learn more about the community members we brought together to strategize around bringing mental health resources to students!

• Continued our youth-led Mental Health Campaign to improve mental health support in schools, including winning Wellness Rooms in Highline School District!

Our Vision for the Society We Want: 

We envision a society where working-class youth and families of color are thriving in vibrant, politically powerful communities. We see this society built on values that include, but are not limited to:

• Transformative Racial, Economic, and Environmental Justice:
  • Eliminating oppression at its roots, prioritizing equity, and ensuring that everyone can live a healthy life on a sustainable planet
• Interdependence and Collective Liberation:
  • Recognizing that our struggles are linked and that we need to build trust with each other and work together to achieve liberation for all people 
• Self-Determination:
  • Those most impacted by injustice should be the primary decision-makers on how to address it
• Creativity and Radical Joy
  • We embrace our natural impulses for happiness and creativity to connect with each other, build community, and energize our movements

Our Vision for the Schools We Want: 

We envision a today where youth of color and working-class youth exercise their power to change systems that serve them so that they can thrive physically, mentally, and emotionally. In our vision, schools are vibrant learning centers that reflect the students they serve and support the long-term growth and holistic wellness of students and our communities.

FEEST works toward a liberated world where young people, people of color, immigrants, low-income, and other marginalized folks can determine their own lives and futures.

Youth are in the lead at FEEST because change is not effective unless those most impacted by health inequities are the decision-makers. When young people lead the way with creative solutions, the whole community benefits. Fierce youth who speak truth to power are essential in a time when our communities are constantly under threat by a political system that directly threatens our survival.

Want to learn more about what we did last year? Check out our 2021-2022 Annual Report!

2021-2022 Annual Report

FEEST's Big Table Membership Program:

Do you want to support us continuously? Consider becoming a monthly donor! For the same price as a cup of coffee, eating out for the evening, or a month of Netflix or Hulu, you can support the FEEST Team by building power inside of schools and making a change in our communities. Consider joining the Big Table!

Become a Monthly Donor!