Youth Leadership Project (YLP)
Day of the Week YLP 1 meets on Wednesdays
Time
4:00-6:00 p.m.
Location
SEACA office
Who can join?
Any youth can join YLP 1.
The Youth Leadership Project (YLP) is the heart of SEACA's programming and relationship with the community. Through workshops on political education as well as topics responsive to the conditions of members’ lives, the program’s goals are to: • foster social consciousness among low-income youth of color, • train youth in leadership skills as a foundation for youth organizing in their current and future communities, • foster a strong sense of self among members by validating their experiences and ideas, • provide a safe space for members to meet and hang out, and • work with other communities to advance a comprehensive vision of social, economic and racial justice. Students also attend off-site field trips, such as those related to topics covered in workshops as well as overnight trips to local colleges and universities. Mentoring and educational/life skills advising are a less formal, but also integral, part of the program. The program began in 2002 and was staffed by Sissy Trinh, founder and executive director of SEACA. Two key factors drove the focus on developing a youth program. First, a community needs assessment identified that within the larger Southeast Asian communities, youth were seen as an underserved population. Second, Southeast Asians are still a heavily limited English proficient community. The YLP program is an opportunity to raise a new generation of community leaders who would be multi-lingual, multi-ethnic, and multi-cultural – an asset that few social justice organizations had. The Year 1 curriculum is primarily issues-based, focusing on topics including, but not limited to, community/family histories, educational inequality, environmental racism, and economic justice. The Year 2 curriculum is focused on identity politics, with emphasis on critical self-reflection on one’s own race, class, gender, sexuality, ability status, and age as they relate to individual and collective membership in their communities. In years past, YLP members have conducted various surveys in the community, participated in LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District) meetings on food policy changes, testified against fare hikes and route cuts at the city's DASH public transit meetings, and organized against the low-wages of Forever 21 garment workers. The Youth Leadership Project is foundational for building SEACA’s youth leadership and is a springboard for members to become Youth Organizers. Video
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Youth Leadership Project (YLP) |