Mission

SBYC builds Asian American youth power by developing young leaders who organize for a more just and sustainable society. We strive to transform economic and social institutions to prioritize people over profit and shape our communities according to our collective needs and values.

Vision

Our vision for the future:

People shape our communities according to abundance, authenticity, and interdependence.
Young people are treated as full, autonomous people and actively participate in decisions affecting their lives and communities.
Our communities govern in the interest of the public and center the wisdom of those most impacted by capitalism, white supremacy, patriarchy, and other systems of oppression.
People lead fulfilling lives by making decisions out of desire and curiosity rather than necessity and survival.

Our Core Values

Digging at the Roots

We must examine the root causes of the problems around us and understand how all issues are connected to each other through larger systems of oppression such as white supremacy, patriarchy, and capitalism. We believe that our work must be grounded in a clear understanding of root causes.

Personal Transformation

Social change can only happen if we transform ourselves. We believe in examining how systems of oppression affect our mind, body, and spirit. We believe in learning, unlearning, and relearning in the pursuit of a better future.

Being Our Full Selves

Personal transformation requires us to show up as our full selves. We need to embrace authenticity and vulnerability: to feel, think, and be all aspects of us. Through our transformative relationships, we challenge each other to engage in hard conversations and navigate conflict in ways that honor our full humanity.

Movement Building

We can’t win what our communities deserve if we work in isolation or competition. We believe in building strategic, interdependent relationships with other organizations and people so that our movements can achieve liberation.

Innovation

Oppressive ideologies diminish our capacity to dream of the worlds we want to build and how to get there. To combat this, we experiment, lean into creativity, and make new mistakes.

Centering Youth Leadership

Young people have unique wisdom and creativity necessary to lead our communities through the urgent crises of our time towards a better world. We believe in developing young leaders who can advance our movements for social justice.

Meet Our Staff

Ralph Leaño Atanacio
Co-Director

pronouns: they/them

Ralph is a 1.5 gen queer Filipinx immigrant who grew up in unceded Ohlone land on the borders of Daly City and SF) and is now based in Oakland. They bring in experience working with young people from mentoring in college access programs, leading social justice education at the Spot Youth Center and organizing college students as a political education and leadership development chair with APASD. They deepened their relationship to grassroots organizing in 2017 as a Lavender Phoenix Summer Organizer and shortly after as a core committee member and trainer for their leadership development programs.

I lead with love, actively cultivating relationships with people and land that feels expansive and liberatory. And in leading with love, I also lead with abundance, practicing the belief that we are enough for ourselves, each other, and for our work towards liberation.

My journey in the movement started because so many people believed in my power as a young person, at a time when I didn’t believe in my abilities or understood what I can do as a young person to address oppression in my communities. Organizers created spaces for me when I was struggling to find the language, community, and support to be my whole self. I do this work so young people can have transformative experiences like me, where young people find belonging, joy, and agency to organize and build towards their liberation.

A fun fact! If I fall asleep on public transit I will always wake up before my stop.

Lusi Wang
Lead Youth Organizer

pronouns: they/them

I'm a child born from the concrete jungle of Guangzhou, China and raised at the border of two cities and counties, in Milpitas. I'm both a perpetual learner and an educator, driven by my passion to raise political consciousness through education by our people, for our people.

I lead with curiosity and openness, constantly seeking to understand the "why" and "how" of the world around me. My relationships with others are incredibly important to me, and are containers where I've felt free to explore my authentic self and also have been challenged to step into courage.

My journey with community organizing is one about intergenerational healing, radical self acceptance, and finding love in community. Youth organizing has been a space for me to heal my inner child, the part of me that felt disconnected from myself, my history, and my community. I never saw myself fitting into traditional ideas of "leadership" and what being an "activist leader" looks like, and aim to hold spaces where youth can step into their power and leadership in ways that feel true for them. My vision for SBYC is to be a space where youth can show up in their wholeness and complexity to dream and take collective action for their liberation!

A fun fact! I have a cat named Smudgy that has a patch of brown fur around her butthole that makes it look like she wiped bad. She's the love of my life!!

Amulya Mandava
Co-Director

pronouns: she/her

I’m a 2nd generation Indian American who grew up here in Santa Clara County. I left the area for college at age 18, and have spent the past few decades learning about the ins and outs of social change. As an anthropologist, I researched, wrote, and taught about social movements and approaches to addressing inequality in the US and India. As a labor organizer with the United Auto Workers, I fought for fair union contracts with my own co-workers and with workers across the country. And I’ve advocated for an end to sexual harassment and violence in higher education as a Title IX complainant, harassment case handler, and ultimately as a plaintiff in a landmark civil rights lawsuit. Through these experiences I’ve come to believe that organizing is a key pathway to transforming our worlds and building truly democratic power for the long haul—and that all of us are capable of contributing to this transformation.

I recently returned home to the South Bay with a deep desire to invest in and learn from my community. I’m proud to serve as a Co-Director of SBYC, where everyday I see youth stepping into their power to imagine and build a just future for our region and beyond. I hope you'll join our group of truly hilarious, talented, curious and caring staff and members!

Jamil Moises
Liban-Ortanez
Lead Youth Organizer

pronouns: he/they/siya

Jamil Moises Liban-Ortanez (he/they/siya) is excited to be a Lead Youth Organizer with South Bay Youth Changemakers team. Jamil Moises is a third generation, queer Filipinx Daly City-ean, and is grateful to be supporting South Bay youth through programs, campaign work, and base building.

His love for Bay Area movement histories, emergent facilitation, community herbalism, and somatics keep his work deeply rooted in “spirit time.” His long term hopes in this work are to support a movement where youth can feel connected to their intergenerational and ancestral gifts as they reimagine tomorrow’s worlds.

By day, you can find Jamil Moises making kimchi stew and crafting with his partner and kiddo. By night, you can find him asleep with an herbalism book in his lap. One of his favorite quotes, inspired by his meditation teacher Carol Cano, influences his life pedagogy: “When we decolonize our spirits, we free our minds…”

Youth Members

SBYC’s core membership is made up of high school students. Although SBYC centers the Asian American youth experience, we welcome all young people who agree with our mission, vision, and values. We encourage young people of different ethnicities, socioeconomic status, schools, cities, and towns to get involved with us!

Team SBYC (Adult Volunteer Team)

Team SBYC is made up of Asian American young adults who have ties to the South Bay and want to support SBYC’s mission. If you are interested in joining our volunteer team, please email us at volunteer[at]youthchangemakers[dot]org.