Making a difference in the community: Two charter school students named to Skillman’s Youth Council

The Skillman Foundation was founded in 1960 with the goal of making life brighter and better for the children of Detroit. The Skillman Foundation is primarily a grantmaking organization that says it’s a vocal advocate to strengthen K-12 education, after-school programming, child-centered neighborhoods, youth and community leadership, and racial equity and justice.

To better serve children, the foundation wanted to give children a bigger voice in its operations. That’s the purpose of the Skillman Foundation President’s Youth Council, an organization of 14 young people from Detroit who will make regular recommendations on grants and other programs that can help Detroit students.

This is the second Youth Council that Skillman has had. The first group served from 2020 to 2022, giving out more than $300,000 in grants and presenting at the Mackinac Policy Conference. That group included two charter school students, Makian Chamblis from University Prep Science and Math High School and Timarra Davis from Old Redford Academy.

The members of the new Youth Council were announced in February, and they’ll serve from 2023 until 2025. Among the 14 bright stars are two charter school students – Eva Giuliana Burch from Detroit Prep and King Bethel from the Jalen Rose Leadership Academy.

Considering that about half of all students in Detroit attend a charter school, it’s appropriate that charter school students have a voice on the council.

The members of the Youth Council range from middle school students to college students, and Eva Burch is one of the youngest members. She’s a middle school student at Detroit Prep and was nominated to serve as a Light Leader among peers at her school. She’s a leader at the school and in her community, serving as an advocate for Rebel Dog Rescue and a community liaison for Neighborhood Art School for young artists in North End, Detroit.

Eva says she hopes to “lead by example with compassion and tenacity” as a member of the Youth Council.

King Bethel is student at the Jalen Rose Leadership Academy, and his passions and interests include music, sports and more. King is a member of several community organizations, including Downtown Boxing Gym, InsideOut Literary Arts, Motown Bonus Tracks, Generator Z, Gener8or Music, and the Detroit Zoological Society.

Music is big at the Jalen Rose Leadership Academy, and King is also a recording artist who says he wants to use music and the arts “to connect with people of different backgrounds.”

King is a talented singer who has sung the National Anthem at Detroit Pistons games and has several music videos available on YouTube.