Youth Activism Project

The Youth Activism Project, founded in 1992, is an international non-partisan organization designed "to encourage young people to speak up and pursue lasting solutions to problems they care deeply about." Formerly called Activism 2000 Project, the organization provides a variety of resources, training, and advocacy to promote youth civic engagement around the world.

tructure

Wendy Schaetzel Lesko is the Executive Director of the Youth Activism Project. This nonprofit organization is governed by a Board of Directors, including Dawne Deppe, Mira Fleming, Hannah Lieberman, Anika Manzoor, Kellye McIntosh, Mark Nilles, Molara Obe, Natasha Sakolsky, and Omanola Wolou Djele. Three of the Directors are high school students and have full voting rights.

Activities

This nonpartisan clearinghouse offers free information, resource-sharing and networking for young people who seek to pursue community change, for example, changing a school board or city council policy. Trainings and consulting with adult organizations that seek to partner as equals with young people is another area of activity. Various publications include "Youth! The 26% Solution" and "Maximum Youth Involvement."

The Youth Activism Project also operates an international initiative called School Girls Unite. This youth-driven initiative based in the Washington, D.C. area collaborates with another group of high school and university students in Mali called Les Filles Unies pour l'Education. Together these African and American activists advocate for gender equity and universal education. They raise donations and currently are sending 70 girls in Mali to school. UNICEF identifies this West African country as one of the 25 nations in the world where "emergency action" is needed because the majority of girls do not complete even elementary school. Les Filles Unies makes regular trips to the schools to hold meetings with the village elders, teachers, parents and the younger students. This firsthand knowledge and youth-led evaluation increases their credibility when these young people--who are not yet old enough to vote--meet with government officials such as the Ministry of Education in Mali and Members of Congress. Ongoing participation with the Global Campaign for Education has seen an increase in the U.S. government's assistance for basic education for children in developing countries from $400 million in 2005 to $740 million in 2008. For the sake of comparison, Great Britain gives double that amount: $1.5 billion/per year.

Recognition

The Youth Activism Project has been recognized by youth industry publications such as "Youth Today", national organizations including the American Legacy Foundation and Points of Light Foundation, and from foundations including the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, who reported that,

:"...Activism 2000 Project [is a] solid organization who has learned – and can teach others - what works in youth-adult partnerships." [ [http://youthactivism.com/ Youth Activism Project] website, under "About Us"] ]

Its global girls leadership development and advocacy program, School Girls Unite, won the Innovations in Civic Participation Youth Global Volunteering Research Project 2007 Award. [ [http://www.icicp.org ICP ] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.youthactivismproject.org Youth Activism Project] website
* [http://www.schoolgirlsunite.org School Girls Unite] website