An Elk Grove-based nonprofit advocates for Black youth in the capital region. Here’s how

Lorreen Pryor used to work at the Capitol as a committee secretary for privacy and consumer protection for the California Assembly before she decided on a career change to a field she says is more beneficial to her community — and more fulfilling to her, personally.

Pryor joined the nonprofit Black Youth Leadership Project in 2005, volunteering to serve as a community youth advocate and playing various roles for the children and families she serves.

BYLP was first established in 1999 by Black staff who worked at the Capitol and wanted to make it more accessible to young Black people. It became recognized and incorporated as a nonprofit in 2001.

Pryor became the organization’s president, a role in which she completely transformed the nonprofit and its community presence, in 2010.

“They probably didn’t really see us out in the community because we weren’t — we were at the Capitol,” Pryor said. “I think the direct services model has helped us gain attention. The services that we provide free of charge to the community has absolutely contributed to raising our profile.”

BYLP became headquartered in Elk Grove in 2021, though Pryor says the nonprofit serves the entire Sacramento area. She left her job at the Capitol and took a leap that year to work at the nonprofit full-time, serving as its CEO, executive director and president.

“I could have stayed at the Capitol comfortably, you know, with good benefits, a routine; but that was not helping the community.”

Programs and services offered

According to the organization’s founding documents, Pryor said, it was always meant to be a statewide program.

Since 1999 it has offered a legislative open house, bringing youth to experience the Capitol, learn the legislative process and get a chance to see the life of a legislator.

The nonprofit has been successful at inspiring young people.

Michael Tubbs participated in the program while attending Stockton’s Franklin High School from 2004 to 2007.

Tubbs went on to become the youngest city councilman in Stockton history. He eventually became the youngest and first Black mayor of Stockton, where he grew up.

“The BYLP exposed me to the workings of the state legislature and how to advocate for policy as a high school student,” Tubbs said in an email to The Sacramento Bee. “Lorreen has been a friend and confidant and I admire her desire to engage Black youth in the policy making process.”

Tubbs has given back to the youth participants during BYLP’s annual Next Level Luncheon, where he has served as a keynote speaker.

Former Pinole mayor and current city Councilman Devin Murphy showed his appreciation for BYLP and how it has helped position him in his political career. Murphy was Pinole’s youngest, first openly gay and first Black mayor.

When Murphy was sworn to office in December 2022, he wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “Thank you, @BYLPinSac! Your program provided a critical foundation for my curiosity in policymaking, mentorship and education in using policy development for systemic change. I’m proud to be a municipal legislator and serve as a Mayor of @CityofPinole! @CABlackCaucus.”

For Jalen Scott, a former mentee of the program, the legislative tour was one of his fondest memories with the nonprofit.

“That was my first time ever being inside the Capitol,” Scott said. “Being actually inside, being in the Assembly, seeing how laws are being made, being a part of a mock committee, it was just amazing and it opened my eyes to see that politics is around us.”

In addition to that experience, the organization added a number of programs and various services that advocate toward bettering the life of the young and Black.

According to its website, BYLP’s work includes leadership development, civic and community engagement, education and scholarships, advocacy and social justice.

Those come in the form of a youth peer mentor program; a college and life preparation program called G.O.A.T (“Goals, Organization, Applications and Transcripts”); and a student media program, which includes a podcast series, “Black vs the Board of Education.”

The podcast has been one of BLYP’s most visibly seen (and heard) programs, thanks to a social media presence that includes a following of more than 2,000 on Instagram.

BYLP also has a number of different groups that provide safe spaces for individuals to connect, share experiences and receive support. Those include the Black Boys Support Network, Black Girls Support Network and Black Parents Support Network, among others.

Another program is the Mindfulness Based Substance Treatment for Adolescents, which Pryor said is not to encourage participants to use drugs or alcohol, but to educate them on how their body and brain are affected by substances.

“We go through triggers, we go through family relationships and bonds and try to help them to see that some of these situations that they are trying to navigate could kind of lead them to try to experiment to kind of numb the pain. And so we’re doing that throughout the region,” Pryor said.

The nonprofit, Pryor said, can be described best through one of its slogans: “a whole mood.”

“It’s my job to make sure that we’re doing our part to make sure they develop the skills that are going to go with them for a lifetime. It’s all relevant,” Pryor said. “It looks like we’re having a lot of fun and most times we are, but the work never stops.”

Advocating for Black youth in school

When there’s an issue going on in the schools, there are sometimes very few people notified to spring into action to correct potential injustices done against Black students.

Pryor is often consoling students and families when they have grievances or complaints about how they were treated by teachers, faculty, staff and, to some extent, the school district.

She’s been there to speak passionately on behalf of Black students, whether it’s confronting the Sacramento City Unified School District Board of Education when two McClatchy High School students were found using racial slurs and wearing blackface in 2018; or a few years later addressing the Elk Grove Unified School District Board of Education about their “lack of action in protecting Black students” during a board meeting in 2021, which stemmed from separate incidents.

One allegedly involved a Black female student at Monterey Trail High School who was jumped by three non-Black female students; she was given a five-day suspension and put up for expulsion while her alleged attackers received two-day suspensions, according to Pryor. The student ultimately was not expelled.

Another incident happened at Sheldon High School during a powderpuff football game in 2021, when Pryor was told that a Black student was accused of attempting to intentionally hit her opponent. The student initially faced a home suspension, a day of on-campus suspension and placement on a “no activities” list, but Pryor was able to have the home suspension removed.

Pryor was there for Scott, the former mentee, when he was a student at Folsom High School in 2019 and he believed that a teacher was racially profiling him.

Scott said he turned in a final paper, received a passing grade and subsequently passed the class. However, on the last day of instruction, his grade reflected an “F.” He said he couldn’t reach his teacher to discuss the matter, and he got in touch with Pryor, who helped to sort things out to change Scott’s grade back to the original passing grade he earned.

Angela Griffin Ankhelyi, Folsom Cordova Unified chief communications and community engagement officer, told The Bee in an email that the district “is not at liberty to discuss private student matters.” The district spokesperson wrote that while the district does not have a formal, written agreement with BYLP, the nonprofit and its leadership are “welcome to participate in public meetings” and engage in conversations with school district leaders.

“(We’re) kind of ear to the ground, trying to figure out what’s actually happening in the community and all these school campuses, intentionally working to mitigate the issues that are being brought forth,” Pryor said. “There is a desire for people to use the buzzwords: diversity, equity and inclusion. But who’s really committed to it, and who’s holding them accountable when they fall short? And I guess that’s where we come in.”

Pryor has been on the forefront of conversations advocating for justice and change in schools.

“Am I a magician? Absolutely not. Everything doesn’t always turn out the way that I want it to turn out or the families want it to turn out. They have to understand that we’re up against the whole system. There are some things that we can get to, but there are some things that, unfortunately, children are going to have to be held accountable for,” Pryor said.

She also wants schools and their districts to understand that some of the people they employ “are not the right people” for the job.

Elk Grove schools: History of high Black suspension rates

A report by Black Minds Matter Coalition titled “Suspending our Future” was released in 2021, with stats from 2019 showing that Elk Grove Unified School District and Sacramento City Unified School District ranked among the state’s highest when it comes to suspending Black students. The districts ranked first and fourth, respectively.

In a 2021 interview with The Bee, Pryor reported that she had three binders full of complaints from students and parents about the treatment they faced within their schools. She said the majority of the complaints came from Elk Grove.

Pryor said the organization’s Elk Grove presence is merely “poetic justice.”

“I live in Elk Grove. I happen to be a product of Elk Grove and (its school district). Elk Grove happens to be a habitual line stepper,” Pryor said. “If we have an office in Elk Grove then we can keep more tabs on them, how they’re treating our children and respond in real time.”

The 2021 survey showed that Elk Grove Unified in 2019 suspended Black students at a 14% rate, and Sacramento City Unified wasn’t far behind with a 13.5% suspension rate of Black students. The survey showed a statewide average of 9.1% of Black students were suspended; the rate for all students was 3.5%.

Years later, as of the 2022-23 academic school year, the suspension rate for Black students at Elk Grove Unified has decreased. According to the California Department of Education’s dashboard, Elk Grove Unified suspended 10.7% of its Black students for at least one day, a decrease by 0.2 percentage points from the previous year.

For Sacramento City Unified, it’s gotten worse, according to the state’s Department of Education: Black students suspensions rates are still very high at 15.3%, a 2.5% jump from last year.

Suspension rates among Black students in other Sacramento County school districts were 12.2% for San Juan Unified, 18.4% for Twin Rivers Unified and 12% for Folsom Cordova Unified School District in 2023, according to the state.

Pryor has been worked with multiple districts regarding their habits and practices when disciplining Black students.

“I have developed a reputation here for being ‘aggressive,’ ‘confrontational,’ any of those negative attributes that they try to put on Black women,” Pryor said. “I have them all and I wear them proudly because if me being straightforward, cutting the crap and taking out all the games means that I’m aggressive, then shall be it.”

One effort in particular, according to Elk Grove Unified spokesperson Lisa Levasseur, was the development of a board policy clarifying the roles and responsibilities of school administrators and law enforcement relative to student behavior.

Levasseur said that “BYLP, along with other community partners, parents, and a representative from the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department” supported district administration and staff in the making of the policy, which was approved by the school board in 2018.

BYLP does not have a formal contractual agreement with Elk Grove Unified, the district said.

However, Pryor and her nonprofit continue to lobby on behalf of Black students.

“EGUSD regularly meets with (BYLP), when they serve as a student or family advocate, working with school and district administration to address family questions (or) concerns,” Levasseur said.

Pryor continued similar work efforts with Sacramento City Unified. According to spokesperson Alexander Goldberg, the district has worked with BYLP in the past, including inviting Pryor and her BYLP staff to participate in the district’s Re-Imagined School Safety Task Force that convened in 2020 and 2021.

Sacramento City Unified chief communications officer Brian Heap said the district’s relationship with BYLP is believed to be in good standing.

“I would describe it as we have a good relationship, a positive relationship,” Heap said. “But I’m not sure that we necessarily collaborate all that much.”

Sacramento City Unified’s director of the office of safe schools, Raymond Lozada, said the district looks for voices that reflect their community.

“Lorreen Pryor and BYLP were strong and passionate advocates for Black and African-American students during this work,” Lozada said. “We consider Lorreen to be a partner that we can turn to for our efforts to improve student outcomes in the future.”

One of the things she is hoping for is that BYLP and the school districts continue to figure out how to work together.

As long as there are Black children in the school districts, Pryor said, she’s not going anywhere.