Social Justice
In commemoration of Bebe Moore Campbell National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month, Mental Health America (MHA) sponsored the creation of the 2024 BIPOC Mental Health Toolkit.
This toolkit offers fact sheets, outreach ideas, sample newsletters, social media tools, and more to better support youth in our communities.
In commemoration of Bebe Moore Campbell National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month, Mental Health America (MHA) sponsored the creation of the 2024 BIPOC Mental Health Toolkit.
This toolkit offers fact sheets, outreach ideas, sample newsletters, social media tools, and more to better support youth in our communities.
This Changemaking Manual, created by Peace First, provides youth with a simple step-by-step guide to move through change processes within their communities. Resources also provided by Peace First include “The 3 Cs of Changemaking: Courage, Compassion, and Collaboration”, a resource that helps young leaders develop their personal self-awareness and values.
Sponsored in partnership with The Myron and Alayne Meilman Family Foundation, the Museum of Jewish Heritage: A Living Memorial to the Holocaust offers 11 free lesson plans for educators to use when discussing the Holocaust, social justice, and advocacy. This museum curriculum collection also offers a guide for educators using the resource.
The development of this resource was further supported by the New York City Department of Education.
Kid Power is an interactive video platform for students in grades Kindergarten through 8th. Kid Power combines philanthropy and fun with mental health, social-emotional learning (SEL), child rights, and equity and access for all students.
We at YouthPower believe that young people are at the heart of solutions to the world’s greatest challenges. That’s why we’re dedicated to strengthening systems in communities to achieve sustainable outcomes in health, education, and political and economic empowerment. By helping young people pursue their aspirations, we empower them to contribute to, and benefit from, the creation of more peaceful and prosperous communities.
Promoting positive youth development (PYD)
YouthPower promotes a shared understanding of positive youth development (PYD) whereby young people are empowered to reach their full potential. PYD transitions away from problem-focused responses to youth crises, to proactively building skills, fostering healthy relationships, transforming systems, and making youth an active partner in development efforts.
Advancing youth development
YouthPower improves the ability of youth-led and youth-serving institutions to design, implement, and assess the programs and policies that impact young people. Using lessons from our own research and knowledge sharing, we support the scale-up of sustainable youth programs, within and across multiple sectors. We do this to equip young people to actively engage in the development of their communities.
Creating a learning network
YouthPower’s Learning Network connects youth-serving initiatives, community-based organizations, international donors, academics, and government entities engaged in improving the knowledge, skills, practices, and partnerships around positive youth development. Together we are united in our aim to support the transition of young people into healthy, productive adults.
Providing evidence, evaluation, and technical guidance
YouthPower conducts research, evaluates innovative youth programs, and disseminates information to expand the knowledge base on what does – and does not – work in youth development. By compiling and sharing resources that take an evidence-based approach, we provide practitioners and researchers with the necessary tools to continuously improve the effectiveness of youth development practices.
There are more than 1,500 Builders Clubs in middle schools around the world. No two are alike. Each club is an independent entity-designed for its members, by its members. They work together to improve their schools and their communities. Their service also increases the visibility and enhances the reputation of both the club and the school or organization they represent. The program is designed to fit member and volunteer interests.
It’s student-led.
Builders Club is uniquely built on an important principle: Amazing things happen when the students take the lead.
It’s age-appropriate.
The program and its resources are designed specifically to help middle school students get the most of of the club experience.
Your needs matter.
Each club determines its own meeting schedule, service projects and other activities in order to fit the needs of advisors, members and sponsors.
You’re not alone.
Adult Kiwanis volunteers and staff at the regional and international levels are there to support your club’s success.
YU LEAD (Leadership Excellence and Development) is a one-year leadership program that prepares a team of YU members who have overcome significant challenges to become community leaders by turning their passion for community advocacy into a career. By combining intensive leadership trainings and community enhancing group projects, YU LEAD prepares youth to be change agents, while ensuring that they are fully prepared for college or full-time work.
YU LEAD represents the youth perspectives in program development and facilitation, opportunities to organize youth events, and community engagement strategies. Participants also receive extensive training to carry the voice of youth in public policy and planning processes.
The Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence (Ed Fund) is a 501(c)(3) affiliate organization of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. We use a public health and equity lens to identify and implement evidence-based policy solutions and programs to reduce gun violence in all its forms. We seek to make gun violence rare and abnormal. The Ed Fund makes communities safer by translating research into policy. We achieve this by engaging in policy development, advocacy, community and stakeholder engagement, and technical assistance.
In getting the bipartisan Brady Law passed in 1993, Jim and Sarah Brady accomplished the inconceivable. But there’s more work to be done — and only when we work together will we solve this problem. In order to do that work, we must accept these three truths about America’s gun violence epidemic: 1) Gun ownership demands responsibility; 2) Those empowered to do so must uphold existing gun laws; and 3) Gun violence is a uniquely American problem that impacts all races and ethnicities in the country, but nonetheless exacts a particular toll on Black and Brown communities.
Sandy Hook Promise is a national nonprofit organization founded and led by several family members whose loved ones were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14, 2012. Based in Newtown, Connecticut, our intent is to honor all victims of gun violence by turning our tragedy into a moment of transformation. By empowering youth to “know the signs” and uniting all people who value the protection of children, we can take meaningful actions in schools, homes, and communities to prevent gun violence and stop the tragic loss of life.
Giffords is a leader in the movement to end gun violence in America. Led by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, our team brings decades of political, legal, and policy expertise to the fight for gun safety. Our efforts shift culture, mobilize voters, and challenge injustice.
Nearly 40,000 people die from gun violence in the US every year. This uniquely American crisis leaves no community untouched—but it doesn’t have to be this way. From universal background checks to community-based violence intervention strategies, we know that there are proven solutions that will make our country safer. In statehouses and courthouses across America, we’re taking on the gun lobby and winning. Since the tragedy at Sandy Hook in December 2012, we’ve helped pass more than 350 gun safety laws in 45 states.
Gun violence is a complex problem, and ending this epidemic will require a wide range of solutions. We’re committed to seeing this fight through, until the promise of a safe and just country is a reality for every person and community in America.