Urban Scholars Youth Network
For Collaboration
The Future Begins Now!
Youth Leadership Development and Education
A peer-led youth empowerment program providing skill-building workshops, leadership development, and community organizing training for youth aged 15-25. USYNC teaches self-reliance, provides life skills training, and equips young people with tools for self-advocacy and community power-building.
Key Programming
✲ Community Power-Building workshops for high school students
✲ First Aid Training for young people
✲ “Healthy Cooking on a Budget” classes for EBT recipients
✲ Resume workshops for high school and college students
✲ Advocacy Labs training emerging organizers
✲ Civic education and political education bootcamps
✲ Youth-run food pantry establishment and operation support
✲ Panel discussions and college prep seminars
Advocacy, Leadership and Engagement Fellowship (ALEF)
Advocacy, Leadership and Engagement Fellowship is a year-long program for high school students that trains the next generation of community organizers. Through six hands-on sessions, students learn advocacy tactics, constituent lobbying, community organizing, program development, fundraising, and the Sankara Method – CDP’s in-house approach to connecting immediate needs with long-term systems change.
Students who complete the series and graduate as ALEF fellows will be paired with mentors from the community to design and lead their own community practicums, and will be given a mini-grant to help fund their practicum.
The Colectivo de Paz Podcast
The Colectivo de Paz Podcast is a youth-led media platform that brings together a panel of five young people, ages 16-21, to explore the issues shaping their communities. Each season features a new panel of youth in conversation with expert guests on topics like youth advocacy, labor organizing, youth justice, and climate justice. The podcast gives young people a space to share their experiences, learn from organizers and advocates, and build lasting tools for community storytelling.
Impact:
USYNC programming has been adopted by three separate peer-led organizing groups of high school students working on climate justice, youth violence prevention, and school-to-prison pipeline issues. The program has reached students at multiple high schools across the Denver Metro Area, including Hinkley High School in Aurora, the former Empower Community High School in Aurora, and several Denver Public Schools.