Project VOYCE's Youth Programs
After-school and summer programming is the centerpiece to achieving our mission to develop transformative youth leaders.
At Project VOYCE, we believe that youth must be engaged as equitable partners in their own development and the development of their communities. We do this through our innovative youth co-designed curriculum and programming. Our curriculum and facilitation focus on three key areas, each rooted in healing justice, allowing us to partner with youth (14-24) in their own development into transformational leaders in their schools, communities, and beyond.
MY VOYCE is designed to prepare young people as culturally aware leaders who can demonstrate wisdom through using voice, taking action, demonstrating originality, and growing knowledge of self. Youth engage in transformative learning and development activities, including co-designing, critical media literacy tools, media-making activities, and an applied curriculum centered on culturally relevant positive identity development. This program will prepare youth to find their unique voice and better understand their identity while working to relieve systemic oppression experienced by the dominant culture.
YOUR VOYCE is focused on leadership development, navigating youth-adult dynamics, and developing a personal presenter persona. Youth participate in transformative and culturally rooted activities to elevate presentation, training, and facilitation skills and gain confidence as youth leaders and experts in community and social issues. This program provides opportunities for participants to continue developing identity and advocacy skills utilizing co-designed protected spaces that work to counter the impact of oppressive systems while strengthening the unique voice and leadership style of each youth.
OUR VOYCE is designed to engage youth in training and development activities to strengthen youth organizing and activism skills. Youth participate in wellness-centered activities to build solidarity, amplify youth voice, develop effective campaigns, utilize youth participatory action research, and implement youth leadership in community organizing and social change. This program will prepare youth to lead as community organizers equipped to advocate for equity-focused solutions to problems faced in neighborhoods and schools.
A unique characteristic of our organization, and an example of how adults can partner with youth, involves providing stipends for youth participants rather than charging an enrollment fee to support and encourage ongoing leadership development. A pervasive myth is that all youth have equal access to “free time,” which disguises the economic burdens often shouldered by Black, Indigenous, and other young people of color and other historically marginalized youth and communities.
