Youth Empowerment Program
More About YEP
- What is the Youth Empowerment Program?
- YEP's Future: Multiplying the Impact
- The Youth Empowerment Summit
- 2011 YEP Cohorts
- What Has YEP Accomplished in the Past?
- How You Can Help
- M.O.V.E.
How YEP Works
As its name suggests, the Youth Empowerment Program empowers young people to make a difference in their communities. Through a holistic approach, participants develop skills in leadership, civic engagement, logic, advocacy and other areas. They learn to think critically, speak in public, works as a team, gain consensus, and solve problems.
Youths identify local issues and problems in their neighborhoods, evaluating what they like and what they want to change. They focus on particular problems—such as substance abuse, teen pregnancy, and youth violence—and research and propose solutions.
Many participants rarely have opportunities to feel as if they have the ability to be leaders, advocates, and agents of change in their communities. Through YEP, they discover the potential they never knew or believed they possessed. The program helps them to see that they are more than consumers or passive participants in their communities and lives.
"All of these people are here to help your ideas and your thoughts come to life, so that they can actually take a form in society—and change and affect what you see around you," said Traea, a YEP participant.
