{"id":239559,"date":"2021-04-26T20:36:00","date_gmt":"2021-04-27T03:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconeer.com\/current\/?p=239559"},"modified":"2021-04-26T20:38:40","modified_gmt":"2021-04-27T03:38:40","slug":"generous-irvine-foundation-award-vital-to-nonprofit-empowering-california-youth-applications-open-for-new-round-of-250000-awards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconeer.com\/current\/generous-irvine-foundation-award-vital-to-nonprofit-empowering-california-youth-applications-open-for-new-round-of-250000-awards\/","title":{"rendered":"Generous Irvine Foundation Award Vital to Nonprofit Empowering California Youth Applications Open for New Round of $250,000 Awards"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yammilette Rodriguez, upper right, of the Fresno Youth Leadership Institute, met in February with Madera Community College\u2019s new Student Advocacy Council. (Photo courtesy Youth Leadership Institute)<\/em><\/p>\n

By Mark Hedin, Ethnic Media Services<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

For more than a decade, Yammilette \u201cYami\u201d Rodriguez has been building up the Fresno office of Youth Leadership Institute, which provides students with public speaking, organizational and other advocacy skills that enable them to become part of community change.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe create spaces for young people to have a voice and to lead,\u201d Rodriguez said of YLI\u2019s mission. \u201cHow do we unleash that power that young people already have?\u201d<\/p>\n

Rodriguez\u2019s work was\u00a0honored in 2019 by a $250,000 James Irvine Foundation Leadership Award<\/a>. The foundation has Gold Rush immigrant roots, and since 2006 has been making its annual award to recognize leaders and their organizations that contribute to a better California.<\/p>\n

Fresno is one of seve<\/a>n <\/u>YLI locations that engage hundreds of young residents in Fresno, Madera, Merced counties and recently added the city of Dinuba in Tulare County. YLI\u2019s 14 programs range from \u201ckNOw Youth Media<\/a>\u201d that boosts participants\u2019 media communication skills to youth commissions and student advocacy councils, encouraging activities in issues such as census participation, and wide-ranging platforms for political action.<\/p>\n

Rodriguez says the Leadership Award has been invaluable, enabling her to do so much more than just focus on the \u201cprogrammatic work\u201d of administration and overseeing program functioning. Instead, she can \u201cthink in an external way\u201d to enhance YLI\u2019s youth empowerment programs in the Central Valley, where a third of the population is younger than 18.<\/p>\n

Often, she said, school or public elected officials bring young people into their processes as tokens without recognizing their value. YLI is changing that.<\/p>\n

\u201cPart of the work we\u2019re doing,\u201d Rodriguez said, \u201cis training adults to be a partner to youth, to see youth as the leaders and resource they truly are.\u201d<\/p>\n

The youth commissions and student advocacy councils YLI has helped establish work with school administrators and local elected government officials on the issues the youth themselves identify as critical: mental health, tobacco and underage drinking prevention, \u201cfood deserts,\u201d restorative justice, training programs in media skills and helping older kids counsel younger ones.<\/p>\n

None of this happens overnight. In the city of Fresno, it took seven years of \u201cadvocacy, persistence and commitment\u201d to pass a youth-led local ordinance on liquor saturation, Rodriguez said.<\/p>\n

An added bonus: \u201cWe now have really good relationships with our schools, faith-based organizations and city councils,\u201d she said. \u201cRelationship-building is so crucial in rural communities. When I\u2019m knocking on doors, I\u2019m able to create that relationship in a meaningful way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Without the support provided by the Irvine award, she says, she would never have been able to do that rural outreach. As part of her work in giving back, Rodriguez, a\u00a0child of immigrants from Mexico, said she will make nominations of her own for upcoming Leadership Awards.<\/p>\n

Since 2006, Leadership Award past recipients have included diverse leaders and organizations, such as\u00a0Miya Yoshitani and the Asian Pacific Environmental Network<\/a>\u00a0(2020),\u00a0Keith Wattley of UnCommon Law<\/a>\u00a0(2020),\u00a0Dr. Dean Schillinger of the S.F. General\/UCSF Center for Vulnerable Populations<\/a>\u00a0(2016),\u00a0Kim Carter of the Time for Change Foundation<\/a>\u00a0(2018),\u00a0Carolyn Laub of Gender & Sexualities Alliance Network<\/a>\u00a0(2012),\u00a0Aida Cardenas of Building Skills Partnership<\/a>\u00a0(2013), and\u00a0more than 80 others<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Besides Wattley and Yoshitani, the most recent class of award recipients included\u00a0Jennifer Gilmore of Kitchens for Good<\/a>\u00a0in San Diego,\u00a0Margaret Libby of MyPath<\/a>in San Francisco,\u00a0Jacob Martinez of Digital NEST<\/a>\u00a0on the Central Coast, and\u00a0Phoebe Seaton and Veronica Garibay of Leadership Council for Justice and Accountability<\/a>\u00a0(San Joaquin, Coachella valleys).<\/p>\n

To be considered, award nominees \u2014 individuals or teams of two \u2014 must be Californians. They can work in the nonprofit, public or private sectors and in any field, such as education, health care, public housing, economic development, or the environment.<\/p>\n

The Leadership Awards program was sidelined for 2021 by the COVID-19 pandemic, but\u00a0now is seeking nominations (https:\/\/irvineawards.org\/nominations\/<\/a>) for its 2022 recognition of individuals and their organizations demonstrating innovative, effective work. The nominations deadline is May 7.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yammilette Rodriguez, upper right, of the Fresno Youth Leadership Institute, met in February with Madera Community College\u2019s new Student Advocacy Council. (Photo courtesy Youth Leadership Institute) By Mark Hedin, Ethnic Media Services For more than a decade, Yammilette \u201cYami\u201d Rodriguez has been building up the Fresno office of Youth Leadership Institute, which provides students with…<\/p>\n

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