Meet an innoFaither is our series to introduce the inspiring optimists in the innoFaith world and what they’re working on and thinking about. We hope it helps you find and engage with each other across the network to advance faith-rooted social innovation and interfaith collaboration for social impact. Or just meet some cool people.
Meet Yasmine Arrington, social entrepreneur and so much more. Yasmine started her organization ScholarCHIPS as a junior in high school, turning her own experience into a way to support many other young people. She has won tons of awards and been featured in TeenVogue, Essence, Forbes, the Washington Post, and more. Through university and divinity school, she continued to grow her organization and now runs it full-time. And if that weren’t enough, she also models and hosts a podcast, Millennial Minds.
What faith(s), if any, do you practice? Is your faith or practice bringing special inspiration or insight for you in this current moment?
I am a born-again Christian. Yes, my faith most certainly does bring me special inspiration for me in this current moment and time that we are living in. As a follower of Jesus Christ, I find my inspiration, hope insights, wisdom, and spiritual revelations from reading and studying passages of scripture in The Holy Bible, through prayer, talking with my elders, and in fellowshipping with my church family.
One of my favorite scriptures is Micah 6:8 - "He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God." In our current social and political climate, what a timely reminder that we ought to act justly in life and towards others. In other words, do the right thing! We ought to love mercy and extend mercy and grace to our fellow man. This means that we should not hate one another based on skin color, ethnicity, religion, gender, etc. but show kindness. Lastly, we ought to walk humbly with our God. My interpretation of this is that we should walk and talk with our Creator and take the time to get to know our Creator better and seek revelation on our purpose in life.
Where do you live?
Washington, DC
What's your favorite pastime?
My favorite pastimes are reading and binge-watching sitcoms on streaming sites such as Netflix and Hulu.
What are you working on currently?
I am the full-time Executive Director of ScholarCHIPS, Inc. ScholarCHIPS is a DC-based nonprofit whose mission is to provide college scholarships, mentoring and a support network to children of incarcerated parents, inspiring them to complete their college education. To date, ScholarCHIPS has awarded over $300,000 in college scholarships, book awards and graduation gifts to 71 scholars, now with 30 college graduates. I am avidly working on expanding the capacity of the organization and ensuring its sustainability, to then scale this work across the country.
What question are you thinking about these days?
The question I am often thinking about these days is what do I want my legacy to be?
How can people find you?