Sista II Sista
Nicole Burrowes, Jennifer McLaughlin, Paula Ximena Rohjas-Urrutia, Adjoa Jones De Almeida, Co-Founders
Nicole Burrowes, Jennifer McLaughlin, Paula Ximena Rohjas-Urrutia, Adjoa Jones De Almeida are founders of the Sista II Sista Freedom School for Young Women of Color (SIIS), a unique popular education program and membership organization for teenage women living in Brooklyn. Its mission is to empower young women of color in a holistic manner tat address their physical, mental, emotional, creative and spiritual needs as well as to promote community activism. Through interactive workshops, members confront issues of oppression, including sexism, racism, classism and ageism, with the goal of building organized action for political and social change.
Since 1996, SIIS has organized a range of activities. The first program was an eight-week Freedom School for 20 young women that included study of African American and Latino/a history, a “herstory” project and field trips. Since then, SIIS has continued to create programs that promote leaderships and community action, and SIIS volunteers have guided young women in conducting a community needs assessment and organizing community events, artist’ presentations and a candlelight vigil against domestic violence.