Youth Venture Seattle

Youth Venture's first annual Create. Change. Campaign is underway!

noreply@blogger.com (Youth Venture Seattle) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:20:00 +0000

We're mobilizing 1,000 people in Seattle and beyond to become Changemakers and spread youth Venture's message to their social networks. Join this exciting social movement now! Visit www.yvseattle.org to learn how you can participate.

Thanks to all who attended our Gateway to Change last night!

noreply@blogger.com (Youth Venture Seattle) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 19:10:00 +0000

Last night, friends of Youth Venture and newcomers alike gathered at Jim McGinley's beautiful home in Newcastle to discuss the power of changemaking. We heard stories not only of Youth Venture as a whole, but listened to the specific tales of two teams who have impacted the community through the process of launching and leading their Ventures.

Members of Student RND (Student Research and Development) discussed the power of hands-on learning and bringing young people together to collaborate on science and technology-based projects, showing off a student-developed i-phone application and a student-constructed robot(!). Our favorite quote: "Who remembers how they learned to ride a bicycle? Did any of you take a multiple choice test?"

Immediately following, Liz of FIERCE (Female Identity Education & Reclaiming Creative Empowerment) discussed student mentorship of a different sort. FIERCE utilizes a universal tool kit of creativity to establish communities between peer groups, build self esteem, and challenge harmful standards or traditional perceptions of women. Liz is also a member of Youth Venture's Youth Advisory Board.

Many thanks to the members of these two teams, who rightfully impressed the audience. Thanks also to Venturer Joel, also in attendance. The event was a smashing success, enhanced only by Monica McGinley's exquisite cooking!

To be involved in future Gateway to Change events, e-mail yvseattle@youthventure.org.

We're so proud of all 11 of the teams that presented at our community panel!

noreply@blogger.com (Youth Venture Seattle) — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 16:59:00 +0000

On August 29, 11 exceptional teams presented on the Microsoft Campus at our latest community panel. This opportunity - a chance for youth to present their visions for change to the community and receive feedback, support, and dialogue in response - is one of the most amazing pieces of what we do at Youth Venture.

These teams represent an amazing cross-section of our area, coming together from not only Seattle, but also Mercer Island, Kent, Bellevue, Issaquah, Sammamish and Redmond. They are addressing a wide range of issues covering human rights, environmental sustainability, gang violence prevention, public health, water rights, youth voice, education, community building, and technology. Together, they are joining with over 30 teams already active in the Seattle area and over 3000 teams around the world, stitching together their passions and visions to create a powerful movement of youth-led change.

Support a prospective Venture team this Sunday!

noreply@blogger.com (Youth Venture Seattle) — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 16:40:00 +0000

American Youth for Equal Education Opportunities (AYFEEO) will be hosting a School Supplies Drive to collect gently used and new school supplies for 2 Bellevue Elementary Schools to ensure that the students who attend who are unable to afford the school supplies needed are provided with the necessary supplies to allow equal access to the educational opportunities at their school.

The drive will take place this Sunday, August 23, 2009 from 11:00am-5:30pm at the Bellevue Crossroads Shopping Center in front of the Mini-City Hall by the food court. Please visit Alex Ruan, Lead Venturer, and his team to support their drive.

About Youth Venture:

CATALYZING A MOVEMENT OF YOUNG CHANGEMAKERS
ABOUT YOUTH VENTURE
In 1996, Youth Venture® was launched with the vision of changing society such that everyone would have the freedom and societal support to take initiative and address social needs. An essential element of this vision is to enable young people to learn early on in life that they can lead social change. It is clear that any young person who has an idea for improving his or her community, leads a team, launches a Venture and contributes something lasting will emerge transformed from such an experience. Young “Venturers” will know that they are capable of leading and creating change, and it is likely that they will take initiative again and again over a lifetime.

Youth Venture inspires and invests in teams of young people aged 12-20 to start social Ventures, and is building a powerful global network of young changemakers. Since the organization was formed, Youth Venture has supported over 3,000 youth-led Venture teams, involving over 50,000 young people throughout 17 countries. The youth-led clubs, organizations or businesses address all areas of social need: health, environment, diversity, education, community and civic engagement. To illustrate:

• Jessica, a young girl in middle school, created Richard’s Rwanda. The organization’s focus is to provide educational opportunities for young girls in Rwanda who were affected by the genocide. Since the group’s inception it has raised over $25,000 to help pay for the cost of schooling for some of these girls. The organization’s ultimate goal is to raise enough money to build a school in the Nyamata community. Richard’s Rwanda has not only created change in a community on the opposite side of the world, it has helped to educate and create cultural awareness among the people of Seattle.

• Determined to change the attitude that space exploration is not for girls, Becca decided to launch No Boundaries, a space camp that exposes girls to math and science. The camp features fun science-related experiments and crafts geared toward young children. The camp includes Astrotots, for young girls; Mad Female Scientist, geared towards learning about experiments; and Love Bugs, designed to teach children about beneficial bugs.

• Divine and his teammates, Deandra, Jamaal and Fernando, created Team Revolution, a youth center that provides recreation and leadership opportunities for teens in Brooklyn. Most recently, Divine has been named by Polo Jeans as one of 21 men and women who are “redefining volunteerism.” This year, Team Revolution performed in a post-game Super Bowl concert.

• Students United for Racial Equity, started by Nina, has created a syllabus-based 14-session seminar on race issues for high school students, demonstrated first in five California schools as a pilot for national replication.

• Members of the University of Washington’s Sigma Beta Rho Fraternity recognize the need to give back to their community. They have partnered with Seattle’s Downtown Emergency Service Center (DESC) to aid Seattle’s homeless population. The team is working with DESC to turn land owned by the organization into fertile garden spaces to aid homeless shelter residents. Sigma Beta Rho also creates awareness and inspires others by conducting seminars on homelessness for students and the University of Washington.

Youth Venture’s ultimate goal is a society-wide redefinition of the youth years. As more youth-led Ventures are formed throughout our communities, it will become the norm for young people to create positive social change. Once youth leadership becomes the norm, then society – young people and adults alike – will come to expect young people to be competent leaders of social change. (For more information please visit www.genv.net/seattle )

Want to get your voice heard even louder at Youth Venture?

noreply@blogger.com (Youth Venture Seattle) — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 18:20:00 +0000

We want YOU to join the Youth Advisory Board and Special Events Committee!

Both of these boards offer a chance for you to get your opinions out there, for you to design events and give feedback on what we should be doing, and allow you the chance to take the lead in this community!

Interested in working on overall plans for Youth Venture programming and coming up with ideas to improve, expand, and strengthen the local Youth Venture Seattle community?

Join the Youth Advisory Board! This board is designed to get your input into the decision making process at Youth Venture and really give you power to shape the way that we operate.

Got great ideas for events you’d love to see Youth Venture throw? Really love parties? Want to be involved in getting more people coming out and hearing about this movement?

Join the Special Events Committee! This board will be given the freedom to design, plan, and throw events throughout the year to get young people involved. These could be parties, tournaments, dinners, movie nights, etc. Whatever you want to plan, the power is in your hands!

Interested? Full descriptions of the boards, their benefits to you (hey, this would look awful great on a college app, no?), and the commitment you would be making (meetings will begin in September) are available here: Youth Advisory Board / Special Events Committee.

To apply:

Send us a brief e-mail/letter stating your interest in the board (1 page max) including why you want to be part of this board, what you will be bringing to the table, and how this board would fit into your other plans. These are due by Friday, August 7th.
Schedule a quick interview (phone or in person) for either Tuesday, August 11th or Thursday, August 13th.

Questions? Comments? Concerns? Contact our office!

Youth Venture starts the summer off right

noreply@blogger.com (Youth Venture Seattle) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 18:11:00 +0000

A big thanks to all the teams and individuals who stopped by our office last Saturday to say hi, provide valuable feedback, and usher in the summer with an impromptu game of capture the flag. Despite the heat we had a blast, and we feel lucky for the humor, energy, and inclusiveness of our Venture community.

We'll be holding other events and workshops throughout the summer, and both existing and prospective Venturers are welcome. If there's anything you'd like to get a group together for, don't hesitate to e-mail us and we'll set something up. This can be as formal as a grant-writing workshop or as informal as an organized kickball game (you know you want to...)

We're looking forward to continuing a fabulous summer with you guys! Oh, and we'll bring sunscreen next time.

Vote for Dig Deep in Ralph Lauren's Social Action Challenge!

noreply@blogger.com (Youth Venture Seattle) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 17:31:00 +0000

Venture Teams, including Seattle's own Dig Deep, are competing to win $1,000 from Ralph Lauren Rugby!

In a new collaboration with Youth Venture, Ralph Lauren Rugby has selected 30 notable Venture teams from across the country to compete for a Social Action grant, 15 of which will become recipients.

Read up on Seattle's Dig Deep, a water rights awareness Venture. Dig Deep is currently a quarter of the way to its goal of raising enough money to construct 12 wells in a rural village in Ethiopia.

Then show your support and go vote by June 30!

Voting in the challenge is a simple process and you can do it here.

We in Seattle are proud of Dig Deep, as well as the fabulous teams from all over the country who join their ranks in this competition.

Youth Venture welcomes its three newest teams!

noreply@blogger.com (Youth Venture Seattle) — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 20:31:00 +0000

Congratulations to our three newest Venture teams, whose innovative changemaking ideas were among those approved at the panel on May 30. We expect great things from Sol Purpose, FIERCE, and Big Picture Spirit. Check out descriptions of these teams, as well as our other 22 teams, here.

June 27: Kick off the summer with Youth Venture Seattle!

noreply@blogger.com (Youth Venture Seattle) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 23:31:00 +0000

The weather's hot, school's winding down, and everyone is gearing up for a fantastic season... a perfect time to connect with other young Changemakers in the area.

Join us on Saturday, June 27 @ 1pm at our office to meet other Venturers in the area and talk about your ideas. We'll also be brainstorming what types of events you would like to see at Youth Venture Seattle in the future (potlucks? talent shows? hikes? service projects? guest speakers with social entrepreneurs?). As long as its nice, and it should be, we'll be making a quick jaunt to the park to enjoy the sunshine and get to know each other better.

This event is geared towards existing Venturers, but any young person who is interested in creating social change and wants to find out more about Youth Venture is welcome to attend!

June 10: Meet Young Changemakers!

noreply@blogger.com (Youth Venture Seattle) — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 21:41:00 +0000

Join us as several young Changemakers share the stories of their Ventures and their experiences. Learn more about Youth Venture Seattle while meeting some of the amazing young people actively shaping and improving their community.

This event will take place in Medina, Washington from 6:30 to 8:30 pm. Contact jknellinger@youthventure.org for more information.

Hear their stories. Be Inspired.

The May 30 panel was a huge success!

noreply@blogger.com (Youth Venture Seattle) — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 20:54:00 +0000

On Saturday May 30, members of ten prospective Venture teams presented their ideas to a panel of influential entrepreneurs in the Seattle community. Each and every presenter displayed bravery, commitment and dedication to social change, thoroughly impressing everyone who had the privilege of watching.

Many presenters were also members of Youth Venture's Dream it. Do it. Challenge, a workshop series designed to take Venturers from the implementation of an idea to a fully developed plan. This video, featuring students in the Dream it. Do it. Challenge, was shown after the panel:

You can view photos of the event, including the post-panel celebration, here.