Grassroots efforts vary greatly by design and mission in Providence. Even the grassroots organizations highlighted in this website differ in their approach although they all focus on educational activism. For example, Youth in Action is mostly led by teens and young adults while Rhode Island for Community Justice RICJ is made up of adult community leaders: educators, parents, and community members. All perspectives are valuable and powerful in grassroots organizing. The goal is often the same: to better the educational opportunities for the community’s youth. The difference in most youth led organization mission statements is an added emphasis on increasing student voice and empowerment.

Another interesting observation is the breadth of issues these grassroots have been or are involved in. Education focused grassroots cannot merely preoccupy all if their time on critiquing in-school practices because, especially in an urban setting like Providence, students’ educational prospects are also effected by the environment they navigate outside of school. Several education grassroots such as the Providence Youth Student Movement (PrYSM), are active in ending police violence in the city. Police brutality affects students when a peers is injured or killed as a result or when students cannot trust police when there is a matter of real concern in their lives. Therefore, education grassroots deal with a wide range of issues pertaining to youth well being in the community they represent.