OUR VALUES
YO! California strives to practice and uphold the following core values:
Youth Power
Trusting in the power and leadership of young people, providing support and leadership pathways, and making intentional space for young people to exercise decision making and leadership in the youth organizing ecosystem.
Transformative Organizing
Driven by radical love, healing, community building, and compassion.
Deep Inclusion
Especially of Black, Indigenous, and other people of color, queer and trans people, immigrants, systems-impacted youth, people with disabilities and neurodivergence, and youth outside of the state’s urban cores.
Intersectionality & Interdependence
Recognizing that our lives, issues, and oppressions are interconnected and our collective and individual liberation are tied to one another.
Margins to Center
Centering youth and regions that have been historically undervalued and underinvested at the forefront of leadership and resources.
Love and Rage
Holding love for our people at the center while tapping into rage at oppression and injustice to fuel bold transformation.
Equity
Advancing justice by addressing the needs of the most impacted communities and youth and making investments and redistributing resources. Honoring the labor of young people and organizers by compensating them.
Strategy, Rigor, and Accountability
Grounded in relationships, integrity, and adaptability.
Risk Taking, Experimentation, and Innovation
Taking strategic risks that build on YO! Cali’s position and resources to build power and accelerate movement wins. Fostering opportunities for experimentation and innovation that create bold and creative models for youth organizing and power building.