About

DIVAS (Digital Interactive Visual Arts Sciences) for Social Justice is a grassroots community organization that aims to:

• DIVAS for Social Justice empowers and inspires youth living in underserved communities in NYC to use tech and visual arts to promote social justice and become change makers in their communities. We do this by instilling values of community pride and promoting community engagement. We provide youth with knowledge, skills, and community connections that enable them to engage with social justice issues in their communities.

Clarisa James and Sha Sha Feng co-founded DIVAS for Social Justice in 2008 after graduating from Hunter College. As women of color, both recognized the lack of representation of women in the technology field. From 2008-2012, Feng played an active role in the development of the organization. In 2014, DIVAS for Social Justice became a full time free STEAM based after-school program.

Our mission is to encourage and empower youth living in underserved communities to use technology toward social change. For the past 14 years the organization provided free STEAM (Science Technology Engineering Arts Math) based programming to youth living in Central Brooklyn (Bedford Stuyvesant, Bushwick, Crown Heights, East New York) and Southeast Queens (Laurelton, Rosedale, Springfield Gardens, Jamaica). The organization serves predominantly African American, Latino and Afro-Caribbean constituents.  Our students create multimedia projects based on environmental, reproductive justice and leadership development by using technology as a vehicle for social change. Currently the organization is expanding the program to the Bronx and Staten Island. The organization is moving towards a national expansion.