Hear Directly from Youth Leaders
We asked the National Youth Empowerment and Mentorship Initiative Leaders of 2022 to share advice, insights, and words of encouragement with youth advocates and service providers
What advice do you have for other youth leaders and advocates who want to be peer navigators and mentors?
“Apply for these opportunities even if you feel you like you can't provide much because the fact is you can. Being a youth leader for Point Source has given me confidence in myself that I am the expert because I have lived experience. Your story matters and it can impact the lives of people just like you if you're willing to step out of your comfort zone and advocate for what you believe in.”
— Jacq Tate, 2022 National Youth Empowerment And Mentorship Initiative Leader
“Always, ALWAYS put your mental health first. Preserving your energy, peace, and sanity is more important than the work you're doing. Every day you're alive is a testament to your strengths. You deserve rest and softness.”
— Mason Persons, 2022 National Youth Empowerment And Mentorship Initiative Leader
“Stick with it and go beyond.”
— Charmet Findley Jr., 2022 National Youth Empowerment And Mentorship Initiative Leader
What’s one thing you want providers to walk away with after reading this handbook? What’s most important for them to understand?
“Yes, youth are young. But they bring a new perspective, and with that, the knowledge that the older generations are not tapped into. Do not underestimate the effectiveness of youth.”
— Sincere Williams, 2022 National Youth Empowerment And Mentorship Initiative Leader
“After reading this handbook, I hope providers are able to understand the young people they are working with and [are] able to support them as they navigate through the work.”
— Samantha Wu, 2022 National Youth Empowerment And Mentorship Initiative Leader
“To understand the importance of Lived Expertise youth providing their time and insight to improve systems change from within. For most of our lives, we've been marginalized and overlooked, and this handbook is a first-hand representation of youth resilience & representation. Our voices matter. They've always mattered.”
— Keona Rose, 2022 National Youth Empowerment And Mentorship Initiative Leader
Why are peer navigators and youth mentors so important in creating successful, meaningful youth programs?
“You shouldn’t have a youth program without meaningful youth collaboration. How do you know what our needs and our problems are without actually listening to us, why do you want youth collaboration without hearing our voices? Think deeply on that before inviting us to the table and then refusing to listen to us.”
— Xander Briere, 2022 National Youth Empowerment And Mentorship Initiative Leader
“To borrow a phrase from the disability rights movement, ‘nothing about us without us.’ There is something so powerful in seeing yourself represented in the creation of programs designed to support you.”
— Abby Ferrer, 2022 National Youth Empowerment And Mentorship Initiative Leader
“The key to authentic youth collaboration is to learn what is working and what needs improvement from the [young] people who know firsthand the ways to better accomplish organizational goals.”
— Bridget Raymundo, 2022 National Youth Empowerment And Mentorship Initiative Leader
“The realities of the world are ever-changing and without incorporating youth, programs for youth are created by relying on assumptions. Peer navigators and youth mentors have the lived experience of navigating resources and obstacles and are able to better inform youth programs.”
— Mónica García Vega, 2022 National Youth Empowerment And Mentorship Initiative Leader
