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Youth Link
Developing youth voice and leadership through peer education
Purpose
Help youth develop into active, aware and concerned citizens who are engaged in the political process.
Description
We believe that it is important that the youth of the state have a voice in the process as New Mexico develops strategies and solutions to meet its social and economic needs. As we train and empower them to do that we are also creating the next generation of advocates.
Youth Link is a statewide youth leadership and policy development program. It provides New Mexican youth and young adults (age 12 to 24) with the opportunity to develop leadership and advocacy skills, build strategic relationships with other youth and adults, and impact public policy. This is done through work on tangible issues such as the prevention of violence and tobacco use.
Youth Link provides professional, effective training and technical assistance to youth and adults working with youth, helping them strengthen their capacity for effective action at the local level, as well as organize around issues youth have identified as priorities for policy action at the state level. Member groups from more than 46 different communities participate in Youth Link, but all are welcome and encouraged to join. The larger the network of participating youth, the stronger our combined youth voice.
Publications
Youth Link oversees publication of The YEAH! Times newsletter.
Service Area
We work with existing youth groups and organizations across New Mexico.
History
When launched in 1994, this statewide youth leadership program was the only one like it in the country. Our first funder, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, considered the program something of a testing ground.
In the early years, our Youth Link participants looked at a wide variety of policy issues – from homelessness to teen pregnancy, gun safety and curfew laws. We have focused in recent years on tobacco use and violence prevention, but the lesson in the power of civic participation is the same.
Youth Link and its many coalition partners were instrumental in the passage of the Dee Johnson Clean Indoor Air Act, which was passed by the Legislature and signed into law in 2006.
Funding Source
New Mexico Department of Health
Contacts
- Youth Link Program Manager Kesi Perea, 505-244-9505, ext. 20
- Youth Link Program Associate Erin Zavitz, 505-244-9505, ext. 28
- Youth Link Program Associate Raza Herzog, 505-244-9505, ext. 18
- YEAH! Program Associate Doug Rock-Macqueen, 505-244-9505, ext. 18
- FACT Intern ShaVon Davis, 505-244-9505, ext. 18
- Expose Intern Danielle Jackson, 505-244-9505, ext. 18
- Native Youth Voices Intern Jaron Kie, 505-244-9505, ext. 18
Coalitions
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| Youth
Link is a statewide youth leadership and policy development program. It provides
New Mexican youth and young adults (age 12 to 24) with the opportunity to develop
leadership and advocacy skills, build strategic relationships with other youth
and adults, and impact public policy. It is important that the youth of the state
have a voice in the process as New Mexico develops strategies and solutions to
meet its social and economic needs. Our mission is to help youth develop into
active, aware and concerned citizens who are engaged in the political process. |
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Youth Link provides professional, effective training and technical assistance
to youth and adults working with youth. The training enables young people to develop
and advocate for public policy in areas that impact them.
Youth Link works
with existing youth groups and organizations across New Mexico, helping them strengthen
their capacity for effective action at the local level, as well as organizing
around issues youth have identified as priorities for policy action at the state
level. Over the past four years some of those issues have been: the high rate
of teen pregnancy, teen access to tobacco products, appropriate sentencing and
counseling for teen DWI offenders, resources for homeless youth, gun safety, youth
curfews, and suspension and expulsion policies at public high schools. Youth Link
continues its work in these areas and in the prevention of violence and tobacco
use. Member groups from more than 46 different communities participate in
Youth Link, but all are welcome and encouraged to join. The larger the network
of participating youth, the stronger our combined youth voice. |
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Youth Link helps youths develop their voice and acquire leadership
and peer education skills by working in conjunction with several coalitions: Youth
Empowerment Advocacy Heroes (YEAH! Coalition), Fighting
Against Corporate Tobacco (FACT), Expose
and EmPower.
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| | YEAH! is a statewide
youth coalition made up of community coalitions, youth groups, school clubs, and
the like. YEAH! participation teaches advocacy skills, helps youth build the confidence
needed to use their voice, and provides them with opportunities to improve the
overall health and well being of their communities. YEAH! members participate
in numerous retreats, training workshops and other programs such as teleconferences,
the YEAH! Coalition Newsletter, and the annual Fame
and Shame Awards event. Click on the links below for more detailed information. |
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Nominees for this annual award are youth advocates from around the state who
have distinguished themselves as leaders working to protect their peers and communities
from tobacco addiction and tobacco-related illnesses. One winner from middle school
and one from high school are selected by a statewide panel of five judges, with
input from the Department of Health Tobacco Use Prevention and Control (TUPAC).
The awards ceremony is held in conjunction with the Fame and Shame Awards event,
where contest winners are presented with certificates, awards and prizes.
Download the 2008 Youth Advocate of the Year Award nomination forms: Nominee Form, Nominator Form (both form in pdf format)
Onlookers, press, friends and family pack the red carpet for an Oscar-style, annual smoke-free movies event. The Annual Fame and Shame Awards are focused on smoking in the movies and recognition of outstanding youth advocates. The "Shammie" awards are presented to the movies and actors for their shameless depiction of tocacco use in the G, PG and PG-13 rated movies which promote smoking to youth on-screen. While the "Fame" part of the event is the Youth Kicking Tocacco's Butt Youth Advocate of the the Year Award honoring youth who have done outstanding work in tobacco prevention.
Download the Smoke Free Organizer's Guide.
Click
here to view the photographs of the
2007 Fame & Shame Awards. |
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| The FACT
coalition is an Albuquerque-based, youth-led, diverse coalition of high-school
age people committed to exposing the tobacco industry's lies and attempts to manipulate
our communities. Members are trained in the adverse effects of tobacco use and
in tobacco use prevention while gaining leadership and advocacy skills to improve
the overall health and well being of their communities. |
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The Expose coalition is a
student-led, University of New Mexico campus organization that advocates for stronger
policies on and accountability of tobacco use to ensure a healthy campus. It has
increased public exposure of youth work on tobacco use prevention and awareness
of the risks of tobacco use among college-age students. Expose provides the opportunity
for young adults to develop leadership and advocacy skills, build strategic relationships
with other youth and adults, and impact public policy. |
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| EmPower is an
Albuquerque-based, youth-led, diverse coalition of high-school age people trained
as peer educators on the issues around violence and violence prevention that are
important to today's youth. They advocate for violence-free schools, homes and
communities, and promote safety and peace through mediation, peer education, conflict
resolution and respect. EmPower members gain leadership and advocacy skills and
work to improve the overall health and well being of their communities. |
| For more information or to get
involved, please contact: Kesi Perea, Youth Link Program Manager, 505-244-9505
ext. 20 |
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