Mission
Our mission is to inspire, empower and equip young people as leaders and change agents for good in their communities.
History
Youth in Power is inspired from the Youth as Resources program, originally created by the National Crime Prevention Council in 1987 with funding from the Lily Endowment Inc. Funding was funneled to states and communities to initiate Youth as Resources programs nationwide, many existing still today. The intention was to develop service-learning programs that empowered youth to serve as positive resources to communities through mini-grant funded projects and youth-adult partnerships. The program, tied to 40 developmental assets, offered many benefits to the youth participants, adult partners, agency supporters and communities. While formal grant funding from national and state agencies has ended, local agency and/or private foundation funding has continued to support programs nationwide.
In the 1990’s the Nebraska Crime Commission provided funding for Youth as Resources, often implemented in diversion programs, offering opportunities for young people to embrace their own power for change. In 2020, the Snow Redfern Foundation began planning for an investment in a program that offered community impact opportunities for young people. A collaboration was formed with the Panhandle Partnership and Community Action Partnership of Western Nebraska, and a newly developed Youth in Power program was launched in 2021. It is anticipated that as a team of youth leaders take hold of the program, its identity, brand and even name, may change to reflect their voices, ideas, and power.
