Designed to promote protective factors and build on the tremendous assets of these communities and youth, YT addresses these disparities and transforms public schools through leadership development and organizing strategies.  YT develops young people’s potential to be critical thinkers, engaged community members, and social change agents in their schools and communities.

We believe that investing in the leadership of young people is investing in the health, vibrancy and sustainability of our community as a whole.  YT  has demonstrated that young people working across the boundaries of race, gender, sexual orientation, and class, can not only work together, but transform themselves and their communities.

Throughout the year YT youth participate in cross-site regional conferences and Ethnic Studies and Organizing Institutes that allow students from different sites to build unity across schools and further develop their leadership skills.  The Regional Organizer is also the key point person for leading the Ethnic Studies Conference in the spring, which will be the primary OUSD leadership conference in 2008. This conference, which draws at least 500 high school students, features a day-long series of workshops on various ethnic, gender, and sexual orientation topics in an anti-oppression framework.  The third component of regional programming is the ODB Network, a network of regional youth organizations that collectively address pressing regional youth issues.