ABOUT US

Our Story

Youth organizing in California builds upon the historical legacy of young people who have been at the forefront of transformative movements for freedom and justice. Through the mid-90’s and early 2000’s young people fought back against propositions attacking youth and communities of color. Through the momentum galvanized by these fights, young people redefined models for youth-led campaigns, organizations, and movement culture.

In the decades that followed young people built youth organizing institutions that endured and adapted to changing political contexts while remaining deeply rooted in the needs of most impacted communities.

In November 2016, Movement Strategy Center and Californians for Justice convened a steering committee of twelve long-standing youth organizations (Californians for Justice, Chinese Progressive Association, Coleman Advocates for Children and Youth, Dolores Huerta Foundation, Fathers & Families of San Joaquin, Genders & Sexualities Alliance Network, InnerCity Struggle, Khmer Girls in Action, Mid-City CAN, Resilience Orange County, RYSE Center, Urban Peace Movement) to develop the vision, purpose, and initial goals for a statewide Youth Organizing Network. YO! Cali was publicly launched with 400 youth leaders and organizers at the Free Our Dreams Summit in September 2017.

Since then YO! Cali has weaved together nearly 100 youth organizing organizations across the state, supporting a thriving ecosystem of young people and organizers dreaming and fighting for a future where young people thrive.

Our Vision

We envision “a world in which many worlds fit.” A world of liberation, wholeness, and abundance. A world of safety and bravery. A world built on mutual support, strength, queerness, and love.

We envision a world where young people boldly lead with purpose and embody power for irresistible transformation connected to liberation movements across the globe. A world where young people are nourished and nurtured to thrive in mutual, sustainable, and reciprocal relationships with community, the land, nature, and all relatives.

Our Purpose

As a statewide network and hub, Youth Organize! California expands and grows the strategic, professional, and socio-emotional power and political analysis of young people and youth organizers across the state.

We cultivate transformative youth organizing to generate long-term transformation in our communities.

We strengthen the youth organizing ecosystem and grow the capacities of organizations to build power in deep alignment towards a shared vision of liberation, healing, and justice.

We invest in sustainable leadership pathways that center the voices and experiences of the most impacted young people, nurturing a bold, multi-issue movement.

Young People’s Agenda (PDF)

Strategic Priorities & Goals

Power Building and Healing Justice: Advance priority issues from the Young People’s Agenda by developing and implementing a transformative power-building model rooted in healing justice and supporting translocal campaign efforts.

Goal 1 – Campaign Capacity Building: Build capacity for campaign efforts that weave together Healing Justice and Power Building through shared curriculum, training, toolkits, political education on Young People's Agenda (YPA) issues, and hands-on support for campaign strategy development and implementation.

Goal 2 – Shared Strategies for Translocal Campaigns: Collectively accelerate power building on specific YPA issues by creating spaces for network organizations to share lessons learned, develop coordinated translocal strategies, efforts, demands, messages, and plan for collective action.

Capacity Building and Field Building: Strengthen statewide and regional youth organizing ecosystems by fostering deep relationships and strategic alignment among YO! Cali network partners, building the capacity of organizations, youth organizers, and youth leaders, and organizing funders to increase multi-year funding to the youth organizing field.

Goal 1 – Shared Core Curriculum: Ensure that organizations have access to and are trained in shared resources, practices, and collective knowledge by developing and implementing a standardized and adaptable core curriculum on: (1) Foundational Organizing Skills (base-building, campaign strategy, fundamental elements of youth organizing); (2) Healing Justice; and (3) Political Education connected to the Young People’s Agenda and global issues.

Goal 2 – Youth Organizer Pathways: Strengthen and expand youth organizer pathways by implementing Fellowship programs, building out our Fellowship alumni network, and sharing sustainable leadership development opportunities for organizers in the youth organizing ecosystem.

Goal 3 – Organizational Cohorts: Advance youth organizing and power-building in under-resourced communities by providing targeted resources, coaching, and support to regional organizational cohorts, prioritizing organizations that organize and are led by Black, Native/Indigenous, Palestinian/Arab, trans and queer, disabled, and immigrant youth and communities.

Goal 4 – Increase Multi-Year Funding to Youth Organizing Groups: Organize funders to increase multi-year general support funding to under-resourced organizations and regions and build on the lessons learned, best practices, and model of the Northern California Youth Power Fund.

Our Values