A 26-year-old running for mayor of Philadelphia took her campaign to a North Philadelphia gym this week to hear from young people first.
Mayoral candidate Shania Bennett held a listening session Wednesday, October 28, at Kingdom Boxing Gym, gathering public input as she builds a youth engagement policy platform. The session is part of a series of listening events across the city, plus school visits, ahead of the 2027 Democratic mayoral primary.
Bennett is challenging incumbent Mayor Cherelle Parker, her former boss. She served as Parker’s director of youth engagement before resigning in May, and she is now running to replace her.
Her argument is that the city’s approach to recent teen takeovers relies too heavily on policing. The sessions respond to a Labor Day weekend 2026 teen takeover in Center City that resulted in arrests and injuries to a police sergeant, and Bennett says she wants a more comprehensive youth engagement strategy instead.
Student D’nell Booker, 18, was among those who participated in the Kingdom Boxing Gym session. Bennett also plans a consistent presence in schools to educate young people on government roles.
Bennett’s youth credentials run deep. At 18, she became one of the youngest committee members in South Philadelphia’s 48th Ward and was elected ward treasurer. At her campaign kickoff, she said, “They say I’m too young, because they can’t say I’m not capable.”
The listening sessions are meant to inform a policy platform she has not yet finalized. For now, the campaign is built on presence: showing up in gyms and schools, and asking young Philadelphians what they want from City Hall before writing the plan.
