Meyiya Coleman is a proud young Black woman born and raised in North Lawndale, a neighborhood on the westside of Chicago suffering from a lack of investment. In 2016, Meyiya joined the Voices of Youth in Chicago Education (VOYCE), a youth-led alliance organizing for education and racial justice and ending the school to prison pipeline in the state of Illinois. Meyiya comes from a long line of community organizers starting with her grandmother, Gloria who introduced her to the field at the age of nine when her cousin fell victim to gun violence. Since then, Meyiya has worked on issues like affordable housing, violence prevention, and now increasing investment in mental and behavioral health in schools. With all the trauma she has experienced, Meyiya continues to battle depression and anxiety, but through her youth organizing work has found some space to heal slowly. Meyiya plans on continuing her education to obtain her Bachelor’s degree in movie production.