MEET OUR PARTNERSHIP COORDINATOR, SAMMY AYA (she/her)

Here at Sadie Nash Leadership Project, we are have an incredible team that allows us to become the organization of our dreams. For the next installment of our staff interview series, we were lucky enough to sit and chat with Partnership Coordinator, Sammy Aya.

Sammy Aya (she/her) is a youth worker and facilitator that finds joy and excitement in creating spaces where youth can be their authentic selves. Her love for facilitation started in college and now as SNLP’s Partnership Coordinator she hopes to bring spaces of joy and excitement to schools and CBO’s across NYC and Newark. As a former Nasher (2016) Sammy wants to spread the same love and acceptance she felt during her time as a Nasher. She hopes that one day all BIPOC youth can be extremely loud and proud about who they are and their place in the world. If you ever see her around she is either laughing really loud or singing a random song that popped into her head.

“At heart, whenever I talk to people, I am a facilitator more than anything else”

Tell us about yourself.

When I was in college, I used to always say “Hi, I’m Sammy and I’m a loud Black woman.” So let’s start with that. As Black women, people are always trying to silence us, so I like to lean into the fact that I am loud. I’m loud when I’m talking. I’m loud when I’m laughing. I’m sometimes even loud when I’m walking down the street. I’m also very loud in what I believe in and what I’m passionate about. I’m loud about what I love. I’m loud when I’m doing my job.

As I grow more as a person and in my career, I’m learning how to lean more into my loudness. At heart, whenever I talk to people, I am a facilitator more than anything else. I graduated from undergrad two years ago. During undergrad, I realized I had a passion for facilitation after leading meetings of our Black Student Union and taking lots of amazing classes about facilitation.

“The community would always make me want to come back. And when you find a community that you can be one with, that is what being in Sadie Nash is about.”

What brought you to Sadie Nash Leadership Project?

Back in 2016, my older sister worked part-time for Sadie Nash. She was a dean and then partnership faculty. One day, she came up to me and said, “you’re applying for the summer.” I tend to do what my sister tells me to do. I often say my sister knows what I need before I know what I need. She told sixteen-year-old me to apply to the Summer Institute, and I did!

Fun fact: I was waitlisted, and I was really sad about it. I had a really great time doing the group interview. Doing the group interview for Sadie Nash was the first time I felt like I was really well-spoken. Because of the way that conversation was facilitated, I felt like I had the space to answer to the best of my ability. 

Then, it was the end of June, the school year was over, and I had accepted that I didn’t get in and I would have nothing to do over the summer. I was at a party with my family, sitting on my cousin’s couch, and I got a call from a number I didn’t recognize. It was Sadie Nash telling me there was a spot open, and I remember the first thing I said was “REALLY?” And of course, “Yes, I'll be there!” 

When I think back to my time at Summer Institute, being 16, I didn’t realize how transformative it would be for me, but it really was. The foundation of the values I hold now, and what I’m passionate about now, was set during those six weeks at Sadie Nash. It also felt like it was one of the first spaces I was in, that I did not feel judged for who I was. Before that, at school, and sometimes even at home, it was like somewhere somebody was always judging me. 

It was amazing to be in a space where no one judged me, and because of it, I was so willing to lean into curiosity and learn more about these concepts. I learned so much because I wasn’t being judged. I don’t remember a lot of what happened, but I do remember how I felt. I just remember how I felt coming out of that summer and how much it meant to 16 year old Sammy. 

Later, I became a Dean at Summer Institute and then a Site Leader. My sister was also the one who told me when the Dean application was live. I was nervous because I loved Sadie Nash, but I wasn’t sure if I could do it. Applying to be a Dean at Sadie Nash, was the first time I put so much work into a job application because it was a job I really wanted. I just remembered thinking my Deans were the coolest people on the planet. I don’t even know if they remember me, but they had the biggest impact on me, even to this day. I wrote about that in my cover letter. I wanted to be that person for incoming Nashers the same way that my Deans were for me. I wrote something like, “It would be the honor of my life to be a Dean at Summer Institute.”

My Site Leader that summer, Shannon Hawkins, was such an effective leader, that at the end of the summer, I knew I was applying for that role the next summer. When I was a Nasher, I saw how amazing my Deans were, and I wanted to be a Dean, and then when I was a Dean, I saw how amazing my Site leader was, and I wanted to be a Site Leader, and then when I was a Site Leader, I saw how amazing the full-time staff were, and I wanted to be them! Now look at me here as the Partnership Coordinator!

You can see the impact community has on you as a person, especially when you lean into community. I wouldn’t be here right now if it weren’t for the community around me. The community would always make me want to come back. And when you find a community that you can be one with, that is what being in Sadie Nash is about.

“We can’t go through this life by ourselves. No matter how much we feel like we can, no matter if you feel like there is no one there to support you, you just have to look for them. ”

What has been the most memorable part of your experience so far?

This might make me a little bit emotional, but that’s okay. 

I’m a person who doubts myself a lot. Especially when things don’t go right, and all of the wrong things happen at the same time– that’s when I really blame myself. There was a point in partnership where a lot of things were just not going right. There was a span of two to three weeks where I thought I had to be doing something wrong because so many things were not happening, and not happening the way they should. 

This was supposed to be a well-oiled machine, but it didn’t feel like it. We were in a program team meeting, and I was physically in that meeting, but I wasn’t mentally there. It got to the point where we were giving updates, and I was like, “I don’t know y’all, it just feels like I have reached a point where I don’t know what’s going on, and the only explanation I have is that I’m the problem.” 

At that moment, the program team all just came together, and was so validating. They all said everything I needed to hear at that moment: that I do my job so well and have done amazing things for the program. 

I care about this program a lot, and I see its potential and how it can expand. But I felt like something was holding it back right now, and I felt like it was me. But the way they all held me up and told me they saw how much I do for this program, they just said everything I needed to hear, and it got me out of the funk I was feeling.

We can’t go through this life by ourselves. No matter how much we feel like we can, no matter if you feel like there is no one there to support you, you just have to look for them. I’m super lucky that in my first job out of college, I found people who can support me in this way. I cannot tell you how much that meeting meant to me. I entered that meeting feeling so doubtful, but then came out of that one-hour meeting, feeling like I could do this 100%! 

“As opposed to all of our other programs, where people come to us, in the Partnership Program, we go to the people.”

Can you tell us more about your role as Partnership Coordinator?

As opposed to all of our other programs, where people come to us, in the Partnership Program, we go to the people. We have many partnerships with schools and community-based organizations, and the way we bring ourselves to these places is that we come with our own unique class based on our curriculum and hold sessions and classes with a group of students. Most of the time, it’s after school, but sometimes, it’s during lunch periods. 

As a Partnership Coordinator, I just make sure everything is running smoothly. I set up the partnerships, make sure they start well, hire all the amazing faculty, and support them. I also try to be aware of whatever the faculty needs to keep their program running while maintaining relationships with our partnership organizations.

“ Young women and gender-expansive youth of color have a lot of question marks. Who am I? What is going on? Why do I feel like this? They need to know that it’s okay to live with those question marks for a little bit. Question marks are normal. They end sentences. But then another sentence begins.”

What do you feel young people need to thrive?

This is interesting just because I feel like Sammy, as a young person, and Sammy now would have different answers. Nowadays, young people are in a lot of spaces where they don’t feel heard, and they don’t feel cared about. I feel like being BIPOC and being gender-expansive and young in this world is difficult. Young women and gender-expansive youth of color have a lot of question marks. Who am I? What is going on? Why do I feel like this? 

They need to know that it’s okay to live with those question marks for a little bit. Question marks are normal.  They end sentences. But then another sentence begins. The best way to show them that is to tell them that even I, as their facilitator, as the “adult” in the situation, also have question marks. There will never be a point in your life where you don’t have question marks, and question marks are normal, and a part of life. But we can still help you work through these question marks. I’m a big affirmations person, which is why I love that part of our mission that says, “You are leaders NOW” because that’s what they need to hear, and we’re just here to help you work through that with care and support. 

“My foundational values were made when I was a Nasher in the Summer of 2016. And, as I grow in this organization, I just build on that foundation.”

When you think of our Sadie Nash community, what comes to mind?

Foundation and growth. Sadie Nash has just been a big part of my journey, and it will be a big part of who I am and where I’m at for the rest of my life. It’s my foundation. My foundational values were made when I was a Nasher in the Summer of 2016. And, as I grow in this organization, I just build on that foundation. Whenever I find myself having a hard time. I just go back to that foundation. But what is also important is growth. I’m allowed so much room to grow here and this is my first big girl job out of college. Within this year of working here, I’ve grown so much, and the community has allowed me to grow, which means so much. Everyone needs care to thrive, and I feel that care here.