Appalachian Center for Equality
Organize. Advocate. Mentor. Repeat.
This is who we are.
The Appalachian Center for Equality (ACE) is a youth leadership program aiming to create opportunities for young people in southern West Virginia to pursue their goals by working and learning together.
West Virginia almost always ranks in the bottom in key determinants of individual and societal health and well-being. We face skyrocketing social issues and simultaneous funding cuts for support programs.
We work to address these complex issues while supporting ACE participants on the path to social and economic mobility. We work to nurture relationships with local communities where our students live, learn, and work. We’re committed to supporting youth organizing efforts at the statewide and national levels.
We offer skill-building workshops, college trips, community engagement projects, and collaborative youth-led campaigns. Through this work, we apply the core belief that every individual has intrinsic value, worth, and the power to chart their own path out of poverty.
AFSC directly serves high school students in three neighboring counties in southern West Virginia. In addition to these three youth cohorts, we are a key leader in the statewide youth power-building network Young West Virginia.
We sustain regular communication and connections with our program alumni. We facilitate connections and mentoring relationships between alumni and current ACE members. We offer support to alumni and encourage them to stay connected and to advocate for social justice in West Virginia and beyond.
Program Components
Local Community Organizing & Community Engagement
From school mindfulness projects to student-led candidate forums, youth leaders plan and organize their own community projects and events, making connections to underlying systems of oppression.
College and Career Readiness
100% of high school seniors in the program have graduated with plans to begin college, vocational school, or a career path. Preparing youth for what comes after high school is vital to our mission. We create space and faciliate experiences for students to ensure that they can navigate the college or job training application process. This includes campus tours, job-shadowing, as well as scholarship application and essay-writing sessions.
Building Inclusive Communities & Equity-Minded Youth Organizers
ACE staff and youth co-create an inclusive space that supports deep listening, reflection, restorative healing, and is community and culture-building. We build our capacity through anti-racist and anti-capitalist organizing workshops so that we have the tools we need to build more inclusive, healthy, and cohesive communities.
Long-term Mentorship & Accompaniment with Our Alumni
We support our program alumni by creating spaces for mentoring relationships to grown between alumni and current ACE members, referring them to employment opportunities and keeping them connected to the broader movement-building efforts taking place in West Virginia and beyond.
State-level Advocacy for Economic & Social Justice
ACE youth are co-leaders in statewide policy change campaigns for economic and social justice, often in collaboration with our sister program, WV Economic Justice, and our statewide network of partners.
American Friends Service Committee
AFSC works for a just, peaceful, and sustainable world free of violence, inequality, and oppression. We join with people and partners worldwide to meet urgent community needs, challenge injustice, and build peace. Guided by the Quaker belief in the divine light of each person, American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) works with communities and partners worldwide to challenge unjust systems and promote lasting peace.