In societies all around the world, people are more divided than ever when it comes to race, economics, politics, resources, and religion. The impact that these divisions have on our youth oftentimes are ignored and unaddressed. Despite being overlooked, we are in a moment where we see more and more young people speaking out and demanding to be heard on very important issues that are impacting their communities.  Now more than ever we need to create spaces where young people can learn, converse, and share best practices with other advocates from the global community.

With this is a framework, P.E.N. DMV has set out to share our view of how gentrification, lack of adequate school resources and a poor inadequate workforce development plans impacts communities of color, especially youth of color.  We are eager to share, listen, and learn from other communities who face similar challenges to see if there are best practices, innovative ideas and solutions that can be found in the midst of conversation and dialogue. This listening tour is a first step to introducing PEN DMV to international ideas that can be taken back and applied in the work and outreach we are doing in the forgotten underserved communities of Washington, D.C.