Youth Leading the Way to Healthier Communities

Youth are often unrecognized as an asset and resource capable of working to improve health. Indeed, programs often target youth as an intervention, but rarely include youth in the planning and administering of such programs. The Native Health Initiative, a partnerhsip to address health inequities through loving service has created a program called Youth Leading the Way to encourage youth to create and carry out projects that they feel will improve the health and well-being of their communities. The grants that youth complete to receive funding for their projects was authored by NHI's community partners, and are meant to build tangible skills (e.g. creating a budget and timeline), connect the youth to mentors in their community, and to provide high-profile recognition for the youth once their projects are completed. Now in its sixth year, Youth Leading the Way is an example of a asset-based approach to youth empowerment, one that we feel can benefit all communities willing to allow youth to lead. In this session, after briefly describing the elements of Youth Leading the Way, we will allow two youth groups from NHI's work in NM, AZ, NC, and MN to explain their projects and to articulate their vision for creating healthier communities.