From Passion to Profession: Growing your skills and building a career in youth work.
Friday, March 14 10:00-12:00 at Wellstone Center
REGISTER HERE FOR FROM PASSION TO PROFESSION
Ready to take your passion for helping young people to the next level? Join us at the next Sprockets Network Gathering! We’ve invited inspiring leaders from the youth work field to share their personal stories, challenges, and expert tips on building your skills, navigating career paths, and overcoming obstacles along the way. Whether you're just starting out or looking to level up, you’ll leave with fresh ideas, actionable advice, and the motivation to take the next step in your youth work journey.
Check out our panelists and look for more updates to come!
Alyssa Lasar, Community Recreation Specialist, Saint Paul Parks and Recreation.
Alyssa is a passionate and dedicated youth worker with a decade of experience supporting young people in their personal growth and empowerment. She is deeply committed to creating safe, inclusive, and inspiring spaces where youth can flourish—whether through engaging conversations, fun activities, or simply offering a compassionate ear during challenging times. Alyssa firmly believes in the transformative power of each individual to make a positive impact, both in their own life and in the lives of those around them.
Benny Roberts, Executive Director, Hallie Q. Brown
Benny is a relationship-centered leader with a demonstrated track record of strategic culture shifting and goal achievement. He's a servant leader and a child of St. Paul Public Schools and Parks and Recs. Roberts is a professional with a passion for people, seasoned youth worker and is fueled about shaping organizational culture and impacting community. Benny is the seventh Executive Director of the 96-year-old historic legacy organization, Hallie Q. Brown Community Center based in Rondo.
Catrice O’Neal, Workforce Solutions Director and Executive Director of the Workforce Innovation Board at Ramsey County.
Catrice is a Licensed Graduate Social Worker with more than 10 years of strategic leadership experience overseeing academic enrichment and employment programs for youth and adults in the public and non-profit sectors. She currently serves as a member of DEED’s Diversity in Manufacturing (DiMi) Advisory Committee and has extensive experience as a Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) consultant with expertise in advancing equity strategies for higher education and non-profit organizations. She is the founder and leader of a networking group for Black women in social work and is a proud mother to her 19-year-old son who is a sophomore at Morehouse College, a Historically Black College and University in Atlanta, GA. Before working at Ramsey County, Catrice oversaw Brooklynk youth employment program and worked with Breakthrough Twin Cities.
Dena Luna, Director for the Office of Black Student Achievement, Minneapolis Public Schools
Dena is an authentic leader and fierce advocate for racial equity and justice. She is proudly from St. Paul’s Westside where she a developed a passion for cultural diversity, storytelling and community engagement. These passions show up in Dena’s approach to youth development. She knows that a person’s story can have the power to impact change and uses our stories as a tool to make connections across cultures. Dena has over 20 years of youth development experience, as she has worked with young people since she was a young person, starting as a babysitter and camp counselor all the way to developing and leading youth programming with the YMCA and The Office of Black Student Achievement for Minneapolis Public Schools. She has spent her life dedicated to working with underrepresented communities to disrupt the systems that have been created to hold us down and it is important to Dena to always remember to keep the community’s voice at the center of her advocacy efforts.
Georgina Chinchilla Gonzalez, Executive Director, ComMUSICation
Georgina is a mission-driven leader passionate about helping youth and families thrive. As ComMUSICation's Executive Director, she works to ensure young people have access to high quality after school music programs. Before taking a leadership role at ComMUSICation, she was in youth development at Girl Scouts of MN and WI River Valleys and as a Peace Corps volunteer, then moved into fundraising roles at Think Small and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra.
Jordan Lee Thompson, Executive Director, Listen Up Youth Radio
Jordan Lee Thompson is the Executive Director of Listen Up Youth Radio, a social-enterprise iterating towards a worker-self-directed-nonprofit where the title "executive director" may not exist in the future. Jordan is an art worker and educator of mixed ancestry living on occupied Dakota and Anishinaabe land. He believes that the future depends on the stories we tell and how well we tell them. Before joining Listen Up Jordan managed Nine North's award-winning film and animation youth program, creative directed at Dance & Other Behaviors, coordinated for Mizna's Arab film festival, and managed a crew of teen staff working towards a future of environmental justice at the Science Museum of Minnesota. Outside of his work for Listen Up, Jordan is a narrative artist and freelance media artist/ educator/ consultant for local and national artists and arts/activist orgs.
Julie Richards, Independent Consultant, Inquire.Decipher.Progress
Julie Richards brings over 20 years of leadership, curriculum design, staff training/development, and program implementation through evaluation to conversations rooted in equitable family and youth development. Professional experiences across juvenile justice, children’s mental health, and public and private education, have given Julie the comprehensive lens necessary to help organizations create equitable and sustainable programming. Inquire, Decipher, Progress LLC (IDP) began in 2017 as a side-business meant to provide an entrepreneurial path for Julie. After two decades of organizational work across several institutions and systems serving young people and their families, IDP was a way to center inclusive practices, equity, justice and empathy as an outsider in organizations where it was much needed.
Keem Anderson - Associate Director, Ignite Afterschool
Keem is a dedicated, creative, and highly qualified youth development professional. He has over 10 years of experience working in the youth development field within both community and education-based settings. Keem has demonstrated expertise in leading, coaching, supervising, and working collaboratively with professional staff and youth. With a strong passion for high quality youth programs, Keem has developed a passion and love for training staff, and became an expert in building capacity in youth work professionals. Keem is driven by new challenges, is a lifelong learner, and is a student of the Ella Baker philosophy of servant leadership and supporting others. Before working with Ignite, Keem worked with youth at the YMCA, Beacons, and Minneapolis Youth Coordinating Board.
Megan Collins, Manager of Training and Instruction, Genesys Works
Megan is a dedicated youth worker passionate about empowering young people and driving positive change. With over five years of experience in mentorship, curriculum design, and program development, they have worked in various roles supporting youth growth and success. As Manager for Training and Instruction at Genesys Works Twin Cities, Megan prepares the next class of high school interns and staff, advancing the organization's mission to provide career pathways for students in underserved communities. A strong advocate for youth-first and equitable programming, they are committed to developing impactful training and initiatives that meet the unique needs of young people. Before working with Genesys Works Twin Cities, Megan was a Promise Fellow with AmeriCorps, worked with the YMCA and People Serving People.
Mercedes Yarbrough, Community Engagement Director, 825 Arts
Mercedes Yarbrough, known as Mizz Mercedez or #YoKidzFavoriteTeacher, is a passionate educator, community leader, and advocate for cultural preservation. A proud descendant of the historic Rondo community, she is dedicated to uplifting youth, celebrating Black history, and creating spaces where learning is engaging and empowering. With over a decade in education, specializing in special education and behavior, Mercedes brings innovation to the classroom by integrating technology, gaming, and culturally relevant content. As the Community Engagement Director at 825 Arts, she ensures the space serves as a hub for creativity, connection, and community-driven initiatives. Mercedes is also the founder of RONDO Double Dutch, a program that bridges generations through movement, tradition, and healing. Whether she’s organizing educational panels, leading youth programs, or fostering conversations that spark change, her mission remains the same: to plant seeds of inspiration and help the next generation unlock their potential. Recognized as the 2023 Women’s Press Changemaker of the Year and recipient of the Rondo Educational Leadership Award, Mercedes continues to be a driving force in her community, rooted in tradition, focused on the future, and fueled by the belief that positivity is her superpower.
Zong Vue, Associate Director, Asian American Organizing Project
Zong is a passionate community member who cares about social justice. She’s a mother of three ages 2,14 and 16. She is a certified yoga instructor, enjoys practicing yoga, biking, hiking, jogging, weight lifting, and is a huge foodie. Her professional roots remain in St. Paul for the past 15 years in non-profit education, youth development, policy and evaluation. Zong is passionate about establishing new ways to disrupt the systems that perpetuate marginalized communities from advancing accessible education (Primary through Post-Secondary options), home ownership, reproductive rights, and civic engagement. Before working at AAOPMN, Zong worked with youth and on behalf of youth at SPPS Flipside, Athletes Committed to Educating Students (ACES), and with Sprockets and Ignite Afterschool.