Chris Suggs selected for grant, Facebook fellowship
Kinston Teens is proud to announce that its Founder & CEO, Chris J. Suggs, has been selected as a Youth Fellow in the inaugural Facebook Community Leadership Program. Since the program was initially announced in February, Facebook received more than 6,000 applications from community leaders all around the globe to be a part of it. Suggs was one of 15 youth selected to participate.
Suggs and the other program participants will have access and direct support from Facebook in leading and growing their communities. As a part of the program, Kinston Teens will receive up to $50,000 in funding from Facebook to support new and existing community initiatives.
“I’m excited for this amazing opportunity to grow and expand our work,” said Suggs. “This month, October, marks four years since I started Kinston Teens back in 2014. We’ve had an immense amount of success because of our ability to organize and bring people together in our community, particularly using platforms like Facebook. We’re grateful that they’ve recognized our work and will be supporting us in growing our efforts.”
As a part of this program, Suggs will meet with Facebook staff and other program participants in person at Facebook’s headquarters in Menlo Park, California, at regional conferences, and virtually over the next year to receive support and training for his community leadership efforts.
Suggs is currently 18-years-old and is a student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In addition to his work with Kinston Teens, Suggs serves as Founder & CEO of Youth Impact Strategies—a social media and youth engagement consulting firm. Suggs is also a former Youth Advisor for Facebook’s inspirED program, an initiative focused on using social and emotional learning to empower students and teachers to improve their school climates.
For more information on the Facebook Community Leadership Program, visit communities.fb.com. For more information on Chris and his work with Kinston Teens, visit www.kinstonteens.org/about.