about
us
Who are we?
Young Governors is a youth-led program that hires and trains teens into becoming young leaders in their community. They are tasked to address local issues in the Elmhurst and Corona neighborhood. Young Governors is based in Elmhurst, Queens in New Life CDC.
What is Young Governors?
Young Governors uses a youth organizing model, which combines community organizing with youth development, to empower youth to be the advocates, organizers, and educators among their peers through workshops, projects, and service. Through this program model, youth will be seen as the vehicles for change in the community, instead of the problem, as is often the case in today’s society.
The goal of the program is to hire and train and support youth leaders as they endeavor to make positive changes in their community. Young Governors goes beyond youth development practices with collective empowerment techniques of youth organizing, striving for systemic change.
The program was created by Delia Kim and meets at New Life Community Development Corporation in Elmhurst, Queens. New Life CDC is our fiscal sponsor and partnering organization. The program started in Spring 2011. YG starts in January with the month-long training and the program meetings go until August. From October to December, we plan for the new program year and hold workshops that will be open to all teens in the community.