FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 18, 2021
PRESS CONTACT:
Carmel Pryor
press@allianceforyouthaction.org
WASHINGTON—Today, the Board of Directors of the Alliance for Youth Action and Alliance for Youth Organizing, one of the nation’s largest networks of local progressive youth-led organizations, announced Dakota Hall as its next executive director. Dakota will be the third executive director in the network’s eight year history and the first Black and Indigenous leader of the organization. On November 30th, Dakota will succeed Sarah Audelo, who has led the organization for over four years. This concludes the Alliance’s executive director search that began in June of this year.
At just 28 years old, Dakota has spent his career organizing and building power alongside Black and Brown young people on the college campuses and in communities across his home state of Wisconsin. Dakota comes to the Alliance with four years of experience as the founder and executive director of Leaders Igniting Transformation (LIT), one of the affiliate organizations in the Alliance Network. Dakota has grown LIT from a Milwaukee-based organization into a state-wide powerhouse with nearly 40 full-time and part-time staff members focusing on improving the lives of Black and Brown youth in Wisconsin. Under Dakota’s leadership, LIT has tackled the school to prison pipeline, student debt, and multiple issues impacting youth across the state leading to major wins including the removal of the Milwaukee Police Department from Milwaukee public schools, the largest school district in the state, and an end to the use of metal detectors on school campuses. Dakota was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he also earned his Bachelor’s degree in Finance with a certificate in American Indian Studies at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee.
With Dakota at the helm, the Alliance will further its mission to support young people as they build political power in their communities across the country. His experience founding and growing one of the most successful and transformative youth organizations in the country gives him unique insight to what is needed to sustain this work year round. And his work to turn out the youth vote in Wisconsin in one of the most important elections in history as well as serving as an integral member of Alliance Network leadership will help the Alliance continue making an impact on youth civic engagement across the country.
In a joint statement, Whitney Porter and Alexandra Acker-Lyons, the Board Chairs for the Alliance for Youth Organizing and Alliance for Youth Action, said: “After months of a rigorous and thoughtful search that attracted impressive and highly qualified individuals, the Alliance for Youth Organizing and Alliance for Youth Action Boards of Directors are thrilled to announce the selection of Dakota Hall to be our next Executive Director. We are particularly excited that Dakota comes to us from one of our very own network organizations, Leaders Igniting Transformation, where we’ve seen him create a powerful political home for Black and Brown youth in Wisconsin. We cannot wait to see how his time organizing, engaging, and mobilizing young people at the local level will translate to network-wide growth and success at the Alliance in the years to come.”
“Dakota has always been a fierce advocate for young people and has a track record of putting the experiences and needs of young people of color at the center of an organization’s work. I’ve so appreciated working with him over the years as one of our network’s most transformative leaders and am certain that under his leadership, the Alliance will continue to support some of the most exciting, innovative, and necessary organizing young people bring to this country everyday. I look forward to supporting Dakota’s vision and will be his and the Alliance’s biggest cheerleader in years to come!” said Sarah Audelo, the Alliance’s outgoing Executive Director.
“I’m so excited to bring my perspective and lived experiences building a better future for Black and Brown Wisconsinites to the national stage as the Alliance’s new Executive Director,” said Dakota Hall, the Alliance’s incoming Executive Director. “I will work alongside our incredible network of local youth-led organizations from Washington to Florida to continue fighting for change, delivering on the issues that young people care about the most, and building youth power nationally at this pivotal time in our country’s history. There is a lot of work to be done and I’m ready to get started.”
If interested in speaking with Dakota Hall about his vision as the next Executive Director of the Alliance please reach out to Carmel at press@allianceforyouthaction.org for more information.