"So I think that is, if you get there, if you get to the point where kids are reading because they want to, not because they're made to, if they have curiosity not because they're made to look into things but because they want to, the battles won."

"Because we all have this idea in our heads, this concept of what youth empowerment is, and yes, we do have program objectives, and we sit down and hash them at meetings, and we plan out what this is, what’s it going to look like, and we have our own ideals and everything. But it never actually shapes up that way when you’re working with human beings, and youth are very self-directed, motivated people."