Feature of the Week: Stephanee Warrington, Artist, Painter & Founder of City Yonder program




1)Who are you?

My name is Stephanee Warrington and I’m 24 years old. I was born in Boston, MA and was raised in Cambridge, MA. Growing up in Cambridge really opened my eyes. It exposed me to diversity and the arts, which are the two main aspects that pushed me to become the woman I am today. What really keeps me going in life, is my God given talent for the arts and my love for traveling. Since I was a little girl, I always participated in the arts and traveling, but it wasn't until I was older; that I started taking my artwork more seriously and began exploring my own international travels . These same things have become the roots to my program, City Yonder.

2) What is your blog, program, agency, organization about? When did it start?

City Yonder is a program that has two goals, 1) to create opportunities for people of color to travel and enjoy life changing experiences through volunteer work,  and 2) to bring jobs, internships, and local volunteer opportunities to  a variety of communities. I started this program after realizing two things; corporate America is not designed for people of color to succeed, and every time I  volunteered local or internationally,  I was always the only person of color, woman, or American. This bothered me because I couldn't understand why people of color weren't engaging themselves in these amazing experiences. Why aren't more people expanding their horizon outside of their city and becoming more in tuned with the world outside of what is known? I want to make sure people of color and urban inhabitants are receiving the same amount of opportunities, experiences, and knowledge that their peers are receiving.

3)What is your mission? Why do you feel strongly about this particular area of interest? 

Educate, create, and expand life long knowledge, potentials, and skills
Do develop a larger understanding of the world by creating rare opportunities
Develop mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual strength 
To explore life outside of own community, city, state, and country
To make a difference in the world and become world conscious
Become more culturally rooted and aware through travel and volunteering
Create international networks

Through traveling I've learned so much about my self and the world around me. I learned to become more independent of myself, and more aware of my surroundings and appreciative of what I have. Traveling especially for volunteering purposes really pushes you outside of your comfort zone. You usually are engaging in activities with people that your not used to or don't know. It really forces you to use skills and knowledge that you don't use on a daily basis or didn't even know existed within.

 These things are important to bring in the communities where people of color reside, because it will allow people to grow mentally, emotionally, physically, spiritually, and emotionally. It will show people that there is more in life to strive for, than graduating college,  getting a good job,  and making money. One can go further than that and become a more well rounded person, contributing more to the community and the world through these types of experiences.

4) If someone asked for your feedback on how to live their best life what would your response be in one sentence?

Trust the path God has for you 

5) How and where can people find more information about you?





Email: cityyonder@gmail.com 


Comments

Post a Comment