Youth Voice to Leadership

Support for foster and systems-impacted youth

East LA

Expand existing project, program, or initiative (expanding and continuing ongoing, successful work)

Inner-city youth in Los Angeles face deep-rooted barriers—poverty, racial inequities, trauma, and lack of access to quality education—that often suppress their ability to find and use their voice. This disconnect limits their confidence, civic engagement, and leadership development. Too often, their experiences are unheard and their potential untapped. Community educators and mentors report that many youth feel unseen and unsure how to express their ideas or advocate for change. As violence, mental health struggles, and economic instability rise, youth leadership is not a luxury—it’s a necessity. Now more than ever, young people need structured, culturally relevant opportunities to explore identity, develop their voice, and step into leadership roles. When youth are empowered to tell their stories and lead, entire communities benefit. Yet scalable, youth-driven programs remain scarce across LA’s inner-city neighborhoods. Addressing this need is urgent to build a more just, future.

Our program, Windwalkers: Youth Voice to Leadership, directly addresses the leadership gap among inner-city youth in Los Angeles by empowering participants to find and share their voices through storytelling, mentorship, and civic engagement. Building on the success of our pilot cohort—ten youth who attended a Latino leadership conference in Chicago and co-authored the book Windwalkers—we will expand this initiative to serve 60+ students annually.

Key activities include:
Weekly leadership circles focused on identity, public speaking, and social justice
Creative writing workshops where students explore personal narratives and develop content for a new volume of Windwalkers
Community engagement projects designed and led by youth, addressing local issues
Mentorship from alumni leaders, artists, and community organizers
A capstone leadership summit to showcase student work and amplify youth voices
What makes Windwalkers unique is its integration of lived experience, creative expression, and leadership training. It centers youth voice as both the method and outcome—a deeply personal, scalable model that cultivates the next generation of changemakers from within the community itself.

If Windwalkers is successful, Los Angeles County will see a new wave of confident, articulate, and civically engaged youth emerging from its most underserved communities. In the short term, we will empower 60+ inner-city youth to find their voice, publish a second volume of Windwalkers, and lead community projects that address local challenges. Participants will demonstrate increased self-awareness, leadership skills, and public presence.
Long term, our vision is to establish Windwalkers as a citywide platform for voice and leadership. We will expand to additional schools and community centers, train alumni as peer facilitators, and host an annual Youth Voice Summit to elevate local youth leaders and connect them with policy makers and institutions.
Our goal is to shift the narrative about inner-city youth—from underserved to empowered—and create lasting systems. A more just, inclusive, and inspired Los Angeles begins with amplifying the voices that have gone unheard for too long.