Youth Connect
Peer Leadership
Program
Details
YCS Youth Connect is made up of interconnected programs where youth lead service learning projects after school and on their school campuses to address critical issues in our community. Peer Leaders, Advocates, and YCS Corps allow students to find service projects that best fit their interests.
Youth Connect elevates youth voice and promotes leadership and advocacy skills in youth. YCS provides Youth Connect students with resources and guidance in planning and carrying out various youth-led service projects.
Peer Leaders
Youth Connect Peer Leaders can form groups based on the topics they are interested in exploring. Peer Leaders create their own service projects from the ground up. Weekly meetings allow Peer Leaders the time to build community, engage in leadership training, and create service projects and community events.
Advocates
The Youth Connect Advocates will have the flexibility to select from a range of engagement options. They will actively contribute by participating in monthly meetings with Peer Leaders and offering assistance to their projects through on-campus activities. Additionally, Advocates will have the opportunity to initiate and lead their own service projects, concentrating on enhancing the well-being of their school communities. Advocates will also participate in YCS Workshops facilitating information about suicide prevention, substance use prevention, and life skills.
All youth participants are eligible to earn YCS leadership awards! Youth Connect Peer Leaders are eligible for the YCS Service Leadership Award and Youth Connect Advocates and YCS Corps members are eligible for the YCS Community Leadership Award. Qualifying students may also apply for a scholarship. Read more about these offerings on our awards page.
Register for the 2023 – 24 program today!
If you are an adult interested in supporting this program, check out our Mentors section to learn more!
Email ycpeerleaders@youthcommunityservice.org with questions.
Peer Leader Spotlight
Nishi Goyal
Nishi (Gunn, ‘24) has been a part of the Peer Leadership program at YCS since 10th grade and will be in the SAVE track this year. This past summer, Nishi worked as a Youth Connect Intern, earning her the President Volunteer Service Award and the YCS Leadership Award.
“Before joining the program, I felt disconnected from my peers. Since joining YCS, I’ve met so many amazing people. I feel like the staff members really care about me, and I appreciate how well they connect with the youth. Every youth I’ve worked with is so unique, yet we’re all passionate about similar things, so it’s been great getting to know everyone. As part of being a Peer Leader, I hosted a Gunn Paly Gameday Event. I also participated in two internships this past summer, where I helped design Substance Abuse Awareness workshop presentations, hosted a Call to Action workshop, and advised on improvements for programs. Overall, YCS has become a community I deeply value and am proud to be a part of.”
Youth Connect: Mentors & Advisors
Youth Connect Peer Leaders thrive with the assistance of adult volunteers that serve as mentors and advisors to the youth leaders. Mentors aim to provide guidance, advice, feedback, training, and support to Peer Leaders as their chosen track develops service projects. Youth Connect Advisors support the students with content-specific advice and direction. Youth Connect Advisors are experts in relevant topics that lend their knowledge and expertise to Peer Leaders. Being a Youth Connect adult Mentor is more of a time commitment than the role of Advisor. Please see below for specific responsibilities.
As a Youth Connect Mentor you will:
Attend Peer Leader meetings at least once a month.
Assist with arranging experiential and/or service learning activities for students as needed.
Provide opportunities to increase the student’s awareness of information and/or resources related to their projects.
Volunteer at and/or attending at least one service projects or community events hosted by Youth Connect or other YCS programs.
And more!
To learn more, please check out the Mentor Description.
As a Youth Connect Advisor you will:
Provide Peer Leader with information and/ or training around your topic of expertise.
Be invited to attend meetings where your expertness will be beneficial.
Provide feedback and guidance to Peer Leaders in regards to their service projects and community events.
Connect with youth who are interested in your work and knowledge.
And more!
To learn more, please check out the Advisors Description.
All questions can be sent to ycpeerleaders@youthcommunityservice.org
YCS Peer Leadership History
LEARN Commission (2021 - 2023)
On August 6, 2020 YCS and Embarcadero Media co-hosted four local high school students and recent graduates spoke on a panel on Generation Z and social justice, moderated by award winning author and former Stanford University Dean of Freshmen and Undergraduate Advising Julie Lythcott-Haims. This panel discussion (video to the right) was the foundation for starting the LEARN Commission.
This work was made possible with a grant from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Community Fund.
LEARN Commissioners, made up of local youth from across the midpeninsula area, headed up an effort to identify policy solutions to address systemic racism faced by our youth who are Black, indigenous, and/or people of color (BIPOC). During the pilot year of LEARN Commission the youth broke into sub commissions and presented four separate recommendations to their respective school/district leaders advocating for:
The inclusion of annual microaggression trainings for staff and students;
Increased mental health services;
Inclusion of a new Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Officer in the student government; and
Hiring a BIPOC councilor to join the all white counseling staff.
Umoja Health
Peer Leaders
(2021 - 2023)
The YCS Umoja Peer Leaders joined the collaborative effort to raise the vaccination rate in East Palo Alto during the summer of 2021 through vaccine clinic support, outreach, surveying the community, and so much more!
Umoja Health Collaborative uses the “For us, By us” model. YCS’s Umoja Peer Leaders worked along side public health professionals and were provided training to address several known barriers faced by communities of color. YCS Umoja Peer Leaders developed and delivered outreach to communities in East Palo Alto through phone calls, knocking on doors, and media campaigns.
Below is just some of the coverage of the YCS Umoja Health Peer Leaders program:
Youth Connectedness Initative or YCI (created in 2017)
Youth Connectedness Initiative (also known as YCI or Youth Connect), was created as an upstream suicide prevention program that engages youth leaders in meaningful service learning projects that aim to foster positive community relationships. The work of Youth Connect is guided by the Developmental Relationships Framework from Search Institute
YCI/Youth Connect in the News
Past Projects
“Peer-led mental health program lets students know they’re not alone
Youth Connect helps young people find resources”
by Zoe Morgan / Palo Alto Weekly on October 29, 2021
“Students urge more transparency after suicides; school district says it is respecting families’ wishes”
by Zoe Morgan / Palo Alto Weekly on April 28, 2022
As a youth-led program, all of the projects and initiatives come from the youth themselves. Here are some past Youth Connect Projects.
Talk to Me is a youth-made video that addresses youth concerns about feeling a sense of belonging with their parents.
An Interview with a Mental Health Professional is a Zoom interview that YCI peer leaders conducted with Dr. Shashank Joshi, a mental health professional. Dr. Joshi answers questions about mental health, including those related to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Paly Wellness Mental Health Interview is an interview that YCI peer leaders conducted with Whitney Aquino, the wellness worker at Palo Alto High School. Peer leaders and Whitney discussed topics related to mental health, suicide prevention, and resources that the school’s Wellness Center provides.