Both professionally and personally, Ronnie Mosley is making Mikva Challenge very proud. Ever since his graduation from high school and Mikva, Mosley has worked towards empowering citizens and bringing youth voice to the forefront in the areas of gun violence, public transit, and education. He has been a true inspiration to Mikva’s mission of developing youth leaders, inspiring change, and transforming civic education.
Coming from the South Side neighborhood of Auburn Gresham, Mosley encountered gangs, violence, and guns at every corner of his life. He felt the need for change and reform more than anyone he knew and immersed himself in opportunities to change things every chance he had. Mikva Challenge gave him the tools, skills, and expertise to run with his passions and make change possible. “Mikva is the organization that introduced me to policy and politics, and I think that’s probably the most powerful thing. Knowing that I can do things now and can make life better not just while I’m around but even after I’m gone is amazing. Mikva is where I became fascinated with and addicted to policy,” Mosley said.
Mosley’s first encounter with Mikva was on a bus where he saw a kid wearing a “Democracy is a Verb” t-shirt. He became part of Mikva’s Teen Health Council in the summer of 2007 and worked on policy changes to some of most the glaring health issues facing teens in Chicago. He also campaigned for President Obama in 2007 and got the chance to attend the Democratic National Convention with Mikva the same year. Meeting with decision makers, studying problems, and coming up with solutions and policy recommendations was an empowering experience for Mosley. “I think Mikva shaped me into a leader. Before Mikva, I had the potential and I did things, but they were at a quiet level, very low impact. But during and after Mikva I learned to take things to the next level where impacts could be felt nationally,” Mosley said.
Mosley is currently the Executive Director of Georgians for Better Transit and is working towards completing his graduate degree in urban planning. Since his graduation from Mikva, he has served as a student board member on the Chicago Board of Education, co-founded a youth policy think tank called iCAN, and worked with several national organizations on issues of gun control and gun violence. He dreams of coming back to Chicago and his South Side community after college and work on community development there.