eLEEP gets National Comm. Association grant

Assistant Professor Angela Cooke-Jackson of Communication Studies recently received the Advancing the Discipline Grant from the National Communication Association to aid in her eLEEP program that promotes health literacy, media awareness, and empowerment for high-risk urban youth.

The grant funds projects that advance the discipline of communication.

eLEEP is a mentorship program that aims to empower communities by stirring awareness of physical, mental, sexual, and social health issues. It has served 166 youth over the past three years.

“My vision as the project director,” Cooke-Jackson said, “is to have this program ultimately develop youth agency around issues of health and sexual behavior, while creating unique collaborations within Boston communities.”

Assistant Professor Paul Mihailidis of Marketing Communication is also a director of eLEEP.

Through eLEEP, Emerson students and faculty provide training, community outreach, project-based activism, and scholarship to teach youth and young adults how to utilize the power of social media and mobile technologies to make their civic voices heard.

The program encourages participants to practice social and community responsibility as well as tolerance.

eLEEP hopes to provide infrastructure to help build a better and more vibrant Boston, especially because college students who graduate will be called on to improve the quality of human life and relationships in public and private spaces. The program gives Boston youth the skills to be empowered, engaged, and active citizens.