“The reason I do the work I do at Words Beyond Walls is because I like seeing everyone calm and trying to have a good time even when you have a bad day. What drives me is just to help the youth because I really didn't have that growing up.”

“I was born and have lived in Denver, Colorado all my life. As a 21-year-old black man [working with Words Beyond Walls], I want to bring back and help and show something different for our community.”

Emma Reicks is a member of Cohort 6 and received a grant through the Learning Fund as part of a pilot that supported her participation in the Fellowship. Emma is the first Fellow from rural Colorado to participate in our Fellowship. She is working on launching a Montessori elementary micro-school in her hometown of Grand Junction, Colorado.

If you know us, you know we love reflection and processing, so we’re taking some space to do just that about our most recent challenging season, in hopes of paying it forward to those who are still in process of hiring or applying. While our focus at Moonshot is centering the perspectives and experiences of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, we believe that more equitable hiring practices will benefit everyone.

I’m entering into this new year with the strength of the Ox and the origins of the name Moonshot on the top of my mind, thinking of the opportunity that lies ahead as our communities and fractured systems are beginning to recover. Now we can choose to build something new, to lead with “Moonshot thinking” that pushes us to dream outside of what we already know in order to create something that future generations will look back to and say - my work is possible because of what they created.

Moonshot was created from the core belief that change will only come when it is for our communities, by our communities. Our aim is that Moonshot is that space for local, underrepresented leaders where creativity and innovation meets equity and justice.