Vermont Student Anti-Racism Network

VSARN’s mission is to organize and advocate for anti-racist schools today in order to build a more equitable Vermont tomorrow.

VSARN’s work is fueled by the hope we generate through our projects and events. By bringing students together to learn, create, and advocate in smaller spaces, we bring to life the world we want to build on a larger scale. 

We believe that fostering anti-racism will lead to equity in other areas of society, and thus we use tactics of equitable education, policy advocacy, and community discussions to convey the importance of anti-racism to all of us, and to our democracy as a whole.

Founded during COVID, still going strong…

For many young people, the COVID-19 pandemic was a time of isolation and lack of connection. Meanwhile, many young people were getting their first tastes of activism, through participating in social movements that rocked the nation and world. As a group of high school students from Southern Vermont, we saw this happening and realized our potential as young advocates. 

Coming together in coalition, we formed the Vermont Student Anti-Racism Network. While our organization is now an established statewide nonprofit with staff and a board, we want to emphasize that we weren’t always this way. Our founders - 10th graders - started sending out emails to the State School Board, superintendents, and education associations to advocate for anti-racist education in our schools, which we knew from lived experience was lacking. We then started sending out fliers and meeting on Zoom with statewide students; we got a small grant, and we started our journey. At that point, we couldn’t imagine where our efforts would take us.

After three years, we became an official 501(c)(3). As time went on, we started hosting in person meetings for youth, including giving testimony on bills at the Statehouse and connecting for in person regional organizing hubs. We also read books to kids as young as 3 years old, focusing on themes of anti-racism and inclusion. We have been pursuing our mission since day 1, becoming more confident in the power of coalition - especially youth coalition.

Our story is one of grassroots organizing and community building. Our organization is completely youth led, with the only adults in the whole organization sitting as advisors on the Board. All of our staff and volunteers are under 24 years of age. Our founding story is living proof that when young people come together to organize, we can build things we never would have dreamed possible.