About Us
Camp Sojourner is a nonprofit leadership program for Philadelphia girls/youth. Our program focuses on team-building, leadership development, creative arts, and appreciation of nature. We offer girls/youth the chance to get out of the city for a one-week overnight camp experience, and then to get involved in our year-round mentoring, service projects, creative arts, and leadership activities. All of our programs are offered on a low-cost sliding scale or free, so that we can be affordable for all families.
Ongoing programs include our collaboration with Bartram’s Garden/Sankofa Farm for monthly farm days and summer-long internships to help build food justice in Southwest Philadelphia; monthly art projects and campfires in collaboration with Artwell; our Teen Leadership Institute and College Prep programs for returning high school-aged participants; and nature hikes, self-defense workshops, and much more!
Camp Sojourner is directed by Alisha Berry, along with an Advisory Board of adults and youth throughout Philadelphia. Alisha is a Philadelphia native with thirty years of professional camp experience and a Master’s degree in Education; she taught math and English in the classroom for several years before transitioning to college counseling and camp directing. Our summer leadership team also includes Symone Johnson who began as a camper in 2011 and has since progressed through the ranks to join our year-round office staff and summer leadership team, Jen Eckenrode who has been a part of Camp Sojourner since 2018 and works year-around as an artist and educator, S-Netchem Hetep who first joined Camp Sojourner as a performing arts instructor in 2019 and is an early career vocalist/theatre actor, and Lily Meier, who began working with camp in 2016 and has been an arts instructor, counselor, and program director, while working year-round as an architect and mom to Wes. Founding Co-Director, Kandace Thomas, longtime Sojo leader Tara Bowser, and longtime Oh-Neh-Tah Director Eva Lewandowski worked together with Alisha at Camp Oh-Neh-Tah from 1995-1998 and have modeled many aspects of Camp Sojourner after that camp.
Camp Sojourner Leadership Team 2024 (left to right): Beth Jemison, Alisha Berry, S-Netchem Hetep, Symone Johnson, Jennifer Eckenrode, Lily Meier.
Camp Sojourner Teen Leadership Institute 2024 (boating at camp, left to right): Larry, Latoyya, Isona, Madelyn, Ialiyah, Reece, Harmony, Ajanae, Mikayla, Ainye
Camp Sojourner Advisory Board:
Tara Bowser, LMSW, ParentCorps Educator at NYU Langone Health, New York, NY
Lauren Cliggett, MSW, LCSW, Associate Director of Child Services at Hall Mercer Community Mental Health Center, Philadelphia, PA
Edwina Coverson-Barnes, 21st Century Program Coordinator at School District of Philadelphia and Parent of Camp Sojourner Alumni, Philadelphia, PA
Genevieve Green, Student at Loyola University, Program Staff member and Alumni, Philadelphia, PA
Stephanie Harmelin, Program Director, The DREAM Program, Inc., Philadelphia, PA
Vanessa Jerolmack, Restaurant Entrepreneur, Gardener, Camp Sojourner Parent, Philadelphia, PA
Nichole Johnson, Environmental Services at Jefferson Hospital, Camp Sojourner Parent, Philadelphia, PA
Symone Johnson, Playworks Americorp Member, Program Staff member and Alumni, Philadelphia, PA
Katherine Kellom, Administrative Manager at PolicyLab and the Director of the Qualitative Research Core at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
Tia Matheson, Executive Director at Philadelphia Playworks and Camp Sojourner Parent, Philadelphia, PA
Tamara Shields, Student at Drexel University, Program Staff member and Alumni, Philadelphia, PA
Zoey Tweh, Student at Spelman University, Program Staff and Alumni, Atlanta, GA
Movement Alliance Project:
Camp Sojourner is fiscally sponsored by the Movement Alliance Project, which means that they manage our funds and provide fiscal and legal oversight. Camp Sojourner raises all of its own funding. The Movement Alliance Project is a nonprofit organization, based in Philadelphia, which works to build a healthy movement ecosystem where organizations succeed in making transformational social change.