Our Youth Leadership Team (YLT) has had a great start to the program! The YLT is an Erie Niagara AHEC program in partnership with HOPE Buffalo which aims to empower and uplift teens’ voices while helping them grow into community leaders. Teens on the YLT will learn about different health issues then use their knowledge to advocate for and engage other youth in their communities to address these issues via personal projects. By choosing their personal project topics and formats, YLT members will have total agency over their advocacy work, thus giving them the opportunity to create, plan, and execute community engagement projects that are meaningful to them.
In just two meetings, our YLT members have learned about Erie Niagara AHEC, the HOPE Buffalo Initiative, and their role as Youth Leaders, and have even begun project planning. The Team has been developing their goal-setting, teamwork, and leadership skills, and has already shown that they are dedicated changemakers. We look forward to seeing what these exceptional youth achieve in the YLT!