Youth Leadership Institute

Programs: Yli's three largest program areas include:1) civic engagement on youth commissions - working in partnership with county supervisors, youth have a voice in the policy making arena. Yli provides staff and training to youth commissions, as well as coaching for youth to serve on governmental boards and commissions. 2) prevention - involving youth in creating healthy community environments that discourage access to, and use of, alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs, through policy change efforts. 3) youth philanthropy - engaging youth in awarding grants for youth-driven and youth-led projects. Yli also impacts communities through its youth development model to improve youth outcomes. In yli's 25 years, the organization's greatest advances in equity for marginalized youth have occurred through policy work as well as coalition-based work, and the organization was proud to announce that their efforts have supported the passage of 104 local policies in california that improve the health of our communities. Policies include the limiting the density of tobacco retail licenses, limiting the number of payday lending businesses in a community, reducing alcohol advertising in retail storefronts, establishing a youth advisory council to the police, implementing restorative justice practices in schools, and the fresno unified school district safe place policy. Yli works as a resource and partner in coalitions with other community organizations, local school districts, and local jurisdictions with an environmental prevention approach to adopt best practices and policies to assure the success of all youth in the communities where they work. Yli has found that elevating youth voice into the political process leads to powerful and effective coalitions that ultimately assure that policymakers are working in collaboration with the most highly impacted communities. Yli training and consulting services share the successful strategies from our california programs to over 220 communities, with trainings in 42 states and internationally. The trainings include best practices in youth development, alcohol and drug prevention, youth philanthropy, and policy advocacy. Yli is the designated national trainer for communities mobilizing for change on alcohol, a federal substance abuse and mental health service administration ("samhsa") model program. Yli believes that now as much as ever, youth voices can speak on behalf of our most highly impacted communities to affect change at decision-making tables. Yli believes that the nontraditional youth leaders that partner in our programs are the leaders that we need to develop in this country to become the future decision makers, elected officials, and advocates for our communities.