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Youth-Led Protest Halts Marketing Campaign with Binge Drinking Message
Advocacy
Earlier this month, national youth-oriented clothing retailer Tilly’s unveileda spring break marketing campaign telling shoppers “this is the time to get tanked,” complete with coolers and scattered red plastic cups. Students in Novato, California saw the campaign and were not happy with it’s 
references to binge drinking. With support from the Youth Leadership Institute, the Novato High School Friday Night Live chapter, and the Novato Blue Ribbon Coalition for Youth, the students organized a letter writing campaign, urging Tilly’s to end the promotion. Their protest worked, and Tilly’s has agreed to take down the displays at 145 stores nationwide. This success garnered the attention of national high school media program Channel One, which aired a piece about the youth-led protest this week to over 1 million youth across the nation.
View the video on Channel One's website here.
-- posted at Tuesday April 24, 2012 4:42 pm PDT --
SparkOpportunity Challenge Asks Young People: How You Would Connect More Youth to Jobs and Economic Opportunity?
Advocacy
Musician and member of the youth-focused White House Council for Community Solutions Jon Bon Jovi today joined SparkAction and the Youth Leadership Institute to launch the SparkOpportunity Challenge, an innovative “crowdsourcing” competition for young people to share their ideas on how to create local jobs and opportunities for youth. Winners will receive prizes and tools to get their ideas off the ground.
At a time when more than 6.7 million young people are not in school and are unemployed, this cutting-edge Challenge spotlights the power of young people to shape the solutions, and harnesses social media to support social innovation.
“As a White House Council Member, last summer I met with various organizations across the country and the youth that they serve,” said Jon Bon Jovi. “What I saw on these visits were bright, determined, focused young people who were seeking out opportunities to overcome obstacles. These young individuals have learned which services work and which don’t. They have learned that working with like-minded organizations in their communities can create jobs and opportunities.”
“The SparkOpportunity Challenge is platform for all youth to submit solutions and potentially have their ideas for reconnecting their peers come to life,” says Jon Bon Jovi.
The SparkOpportunity Challenge calls on young people to submit videos or text detailing their solutions and use social media to campaign for the ideas that they think can really work. The top-voted winners will receive an iPad, start-up grants of $1,500, and mentoring from recognized business and policy leaders to see their ideas brought to life locally.
The Challenge was developed by SparkAction, an initiative of the nonprofit Forum for Youth Investment, and The Youth Leadership Institute, along with a coalition of leading youth organizations across the country.
Organizers are launching this online effort in response to the White House Council for Community Solutions’ call for the nation to do more to reconnect young people with the education, training and comprehensive social supports critical for long-term employment and lifelong economic independence.
The Challenge is designed to spotlight youth-driven solutions and identify new ideas from young people from all walks of life. All solutions are fair game, from entrepreneurial start-ups to ideas for social change.
“Lifting the voices of youth to forge innovative solutions is not only the right thing to do, but the smart thing as well. We are delighted to be part of an effort that does just that,” says C.J. Callen, CEO of the Youth Leadership Institute. The Institute has formed a National Youth Ambassadors initiative to build opportunities for stakeholders in communities to hear the unique and vital perspectives of young people seeking pathways to educational and employment opportunities.
To join the SparkOpportunity Challenge, young people and their adult allies can visit www.sparkopportunity.org, submit ideas to create jobs and opportunities, and vote for the ones they think can work.
-- posted at Friday April 13, 2012 5:05 pm PDT --
Ambassadors Chosen to Raise the Voices of the Nation's Opportunity Youth
Advocacy | CJ Callen, CEO of the Youth Leadership Institute
The Youth Leadership Institute today announced the selection of youth ambassadors to serve as spokespeople for a campaign to raise awareness and spark action to help the nation’s Opportunity Youth. Opportunity Youth are young Americans ages 16-24 who are disconnected from education and from work — more than 6 million youth and young adults nationwide.
The eleven youth and young adults were selected because of their powerful personal stories about overcoming challenges to successfully engage in education and work, many of them through vital “pathways” that provided them with real work skills, mentors, internships, and social and financial support.
The Youth Leadership Institute selected the ambassadors as part of its effort to help bring powerful youth voices to national and community discussions about providing opportunity as a way of supporting the work of the White House Council for Community Solutions. The Council is identifying ways that every American community can create the civic infrastructure or local road map to move youth along pathways to education, employment, and ongoing civic participation.
The Youth Ambassadors:
Jairus Cater of Nashville, TN, age 20, is a student at the University of Tennessee Knoxville, was the first in his family to attend college, and found his calling serving those he saw experiencing unemployment, gangs, drug abuse, and incarceration in his community. Cater interned at the Nashville Career Advancement Center and the Oasis Youth Opportunity Center, and later became a co-chair of the Nashville Mayor’s Child and Youth Master Plan Task Force.
Ryan Dalton of New Orleans LA, age 22, is a student at Southern University at New Orleans and a chef and floor trainer at Cafe Reconcile. Dalton credits Café Reconcile’s job training program with changing his life in a crime-filled neighborhood following his dislocation after Hurricane Katrina and putting him on a clear track to success.
Trevor Easley of Columbus OH, age 23, is a retention specialist for YouthBuild Columbus Community School, and Gospel Rap performer under the name Trev-eaz. After losing his mother at age 18 and simultaneously facing the loss of their home, Easley gained significant learning and leadership opportunities through his enrollment at YouthBuild’s Columbus Community School.
Francisco Garcia of Hacienda Heights CA, age 24, is a student at Rio Hondo College and a public muralist who engaged in graffiti and faced run-ins with law enforcement at a young age. He found opportunities working with a mentor and other youth at Arizona Call a Teen Youth Resources.
Torres Hughes of Chicago IL, age 17, is a senior at Austin Polytechnical Academy, a school he credits with giving him a career-focused engineering curriculum and real job exposure through his experience as an apprentice in the Beverage Industry Products and Profits program provided at his school by After School Matters. Hughes was raised by his grandmother and other family members, and fell a year behind in high school before accelerating his education at Austin Polytechnical Academy.
Shaakirah Medford of Queens, New York City, age 20, is a junior majoring in English at State University of New York (SUNY) College at Old Westbury and grew up in the Jamaica neighborhood in the borough of Queens, New York City. Medford found encouragement and corporate internship opportunities through the Development School for Youth of the All Stars Project in New York City.
José-Luis Mejia of San Francisco CA, age 24, is the lead program facilitator and producer at Conscious Youth Media Crew (CYMC) and young adult engagement coordinator at Transitional Age Youth San Francisco (TAYSF). After experiencing violence and the street economy at an early age, and losing friends by death and incarceration, Mejia gained significant professional skills and opportunities through the Bay Area Video Coalition’s (BAVC) Digital Pathways program. He is now a proud father and dedicated to creating positive change through direct service, policy, and activism in communities with the most need.
Brian Nguyen of Seattle WA, age 21, is a student at Bellevue College. After experiencing homelessness, emotional trauma, and being jobless, Nguyen participated in Seattle’s Year Up where he earned college credits and a respected internship at Google.
Hanna Sharp of Indianapolis IN, age 17, is a student at Decatur Enrichment Center. Sharp experienced homelessness and motherhood at a young age, but found the opportunity to job shadow at a bakery in downtown Indianapolis through the Jobs for America's Graduates program and also now serves as a math tutor to 5th graders.
Brittany Woods of La Mirada CA, age 18, is a student at Biola University who overcame assault and bullying during high school. Woods discovered leadership through Health Occupations Students of America, an organization for future health professionals, and currently serves on the National Executive Council of the 130,000-member organization.
Hashim Yonis of Minneapolis MN, age 23, graduated from St. Olaf College. Yonis, who is from war-torn Somalia, grew up in refugee camps in Ethiopia and Kenya. He benefited from the TRIO and STEP-UP programs. TRIO assisted Yonis to prepare for, enroll, and succeed in college. The STEP-UP program provided him with opportunities to work with the law firm Faegre & Benson and then in Minneapolis’ Public Works Department. Now Yonis is the youngest school administrative manager in the state of Minnesota.
-- posted at Tuesday March 13, 2012 9:10 am PDT --
New Insider Newsletter Chronicles the Latest at YLI
New Insider Newsletter Chronicles the Latest at YLI
General | André Morand
This week YLI released the first issue of the new YLI Insider Newsletter. This quarterly newsletter will feature the latest news from YLI's community programs and national training center.
Subscribe to receive future editions of the YLI Insider.
-- posted at Friday February 10, 2012 3:12 pm PST --
White House Council for Community Solutions Launches National Effort to Put Disconnected Youth on Pathways to Education and Work
Advocacy | André Morand
On Tuesday, the White House Office of Community Solutions announced the launch of a national effort to put disconnected "Opportunity Youth" on pathways to education and employment. The Youth Leadership Institute is proud to serve as a partner in this effort, leading the engagement of Opportunity Youth.
We've provided some key excepts below. The full text of the release can be found here.
"In response to President Obama’s challenge to the nation to help every young adult find a pathway to long-term economic success, The White House Council for Community Solutions today announced it will join a diverse coalition of partners to launch a 100-day initiative to unite all citizens to go “All In” for youth..."
"The Council will ...work with Youth Leadership Institute (YLI) to communicate directly with young adults disconnected from school and work – and ensure that their voices and views are central to every community town hall-style gathering. YLI will identify local youth ambassadors – who effectively illustrate the potential Opportunity Youth offer to the nation when barriers to school and work are removed from their path – to serve as spokespersons and partners for this effort..."