Youth Advisory Council
MISSION
The Youth Advisory Council, in collaborative youth-adult partnerships within communities and across the state, provides youth with a forum to exercise their voice by connecting and mobilizing youth voice and youth action, discussing policy issues, and advising the work of the Minnesota Alliance With Youth and its partners.
OVERVIEW
The Minnesota Alliance With Youth – Youth Advisory Council (also known as YAC) recruits partner organizations that have significant and sustained contact with young people in their local communities to participate on the council. Each partner organization identifies one to two high school aged youth to represent their community and serve on the statewide youth council. YAC seeks to recruit a diverse group of youth who represent the changing face of Minnesota. This collaborative model asks organizations to take the lead in supporting and working with youth council members to take the work of the council back to their home communities.
Adult and youth representatives from each organization will be expected to attend four meetings throughout the year, including one overnight retreat. During these meetings, YAC members will discuss issues that are currently affecting young people in their home communities and across the state. As a result, these conversations are used to shape the work of the Alliance and its partners as well as help inform a comprehensive youth policy platform.
The Alliance has two staff members that support the work of YAC:
- Keelin Yenney, AmeriCorps Promise Fellow, promisefellow@mnyouth.net
- Melissa Burwell, Director of Strategic Initiatives, mburwell@mnyouth.net
*Please contact either Keelin or Melissa with questions about YAC or the Alliance.
HISTORY
In 2005, the Minnesota Alliance and Youth Community Connections (YCC) developed a partnership to create a statewide youth council that would help bring greater youth voice to the work of each organization. The process began with holding focus groups with respective partners to gain insight in into what they were looking for and needing from a statewide group. Based on the information gleaned from these focus groups, in the fall of 2006 two AmeriCorps Promise Fellows, hosted by the Alliance and YCC, were hired to develop the structure and programming of YAC. The first YAC meeting was held in February 2007 with 15 youth representing 13 communities.
Much of the work of YAC members has focused around understanding the local issues and challenges facing youth in their home communities. In 2007, YAC members surveyed over 200 youth from across the state. These surveys provided youth an opportunity to voice their thoughts and concerns regarding what was happening in their respective communities. YAC also participated in the Youth Rally Day at the Minnesota State Capitol and created a video explaining the importance of youth voice in organizations that serve youth.
In Summer 2008, the Alliance and YCC decided to transition from a partnership leading the YAC to the Alliance taking the primary role. We continue to focus on out of school time (safe places) as one of our main issues and utilize the resources of YCC to continually inform our work, provide support, technical assistance and training. By broadening our scope while remaining true to the mission of YAC, we hope to address how all of the Five Promises are impacting youth.
In 2008, YAC continued to grow with a membership of 20 youth from 6 partnering sites. Throughout the year the youth participated in several projects within their communities as well as attended larger youth events such as Youth Rally Day. In addition, youth co-hosted the Global Youth Service Day Celebration which included a short speech by Sen. Amy Klobuchar. YAC members also reviewed Promise Fellow Host Site applications as well. It is the expectation of the Alliance that the 2009-2010 YAC will continue to engage youth critically within MN communities and continue to expand youth voice throughout Minnesota.
REVIEW THE 2009 SURVEY TO LEARN WHAT ISSUES ARE IMPORTANT TO YOUTH!
WATCH BELOW to learn more about the Youth Advisory Council!
