Youth Service America

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Youth Service America, or YSA, is a resource center that partners with thousands of organizations committed to increasing the quality and quantity of volunteer opportunities for young people, ages 5-25, to serve locally, nationally, and globally."[1] YSA has a reputation for supporting and promoting youth voice, youth service, and service-learning through advocacy and resource sharing. Steve Culbertson is the President & CEO.

Contents

[edit] History

Founded in 1986, Youth Service America’s mission is to expand the impact of the youth service movement with families, communities, schools, corporations, and governments.

YSA seeks to improve communities by increasing the NUMBER and the DIVERSITY of young people serving in important roles. With programs focused on youth ages 5-25, Youth Service America envisions a global culture of engaged young people who are committed to a lifetime of service, learning, leadership, and achievement.

According to research by Independent Sector and Youth Service America (Toppe; Golombek), youth service is a fundamental correlative to lifelong volunteerism and philanthropy as adults. Americans gave $295 billion to charity in 2006, and most of these donors were also volunteers for various health, education, human service, and environmental causes. Surveys show the majority of these generous adults who volunteer actually started the practice as children.

In YSA's 2006 Strategic Plan, it outlined six strategic goals for the next five years:

1. Increase the participation of diverse youth, ages 5-25, especially elementary school children, youth with disabilities, and young people from underserved communities;

2. Expand its innovative programs and resources;

3. Promote the message of youth as contributors and leaders;

4. Increase the number of schools, communities, corporations, and governments that expect youth to be engaged in service;

5. Expand its ability to deliver and grow programs and tools;

6. Develop approaches to measure and communicate our impact.

[edit] Programs

With the support of the State Farm Companies Foundation and PARADE Magazine, Youth Service America organizes National & Global Youth Service Day, a public education campaign to highlight the amazing contributions that young people make to their communities 365 days of the year. As the largest service event in the world and YSA's premier program, it draws together a remarkable consortium of local, regional, national, and international partners. Working with Global Youth Action Network, YSA developed Global Youth Service Day program in 2000, now coordinating the event in more than 100 countries.

Other programs include:

  • Technology, such as SERVEnet.org, the nation’s largest database of volunteering opportunities; YouthMove.org to deliver state specific resources to students; YSA.org to support the organization's outreach to partners; and GYSD.org to support Global Youth Service Day;
  • Microfinance grants that use a teaching application process to encourage hundreds of high quality, measurable, service-learning projects by young people around the world;
  • Government relations to encourage an ongoing Federal and State investment in national service programs such as AmeriCorps and in service-learning programs including Learn & Serve America;
  • Youth Voice initiative to help young people influence adults and contribute to policies and problems that affect them;
  • Communications to spread the word to media about young people as assets and resources.

YSA has also been a long-time partner supporting the National Service Learning Conference, co-sponsored by the National Youth Leadership Council.

[edit] References

  1. ^ About Us YSA website

[edit] See also

[edit] External links