Youth Over Violence Summer Leadership Institute 2022 Graduation

This year marks the 12th year anniversary of the Youth Over Violence Summer Leadership Institute! The Youth Over Violence Leadership Institute is for youth who are committed to building and making powerful social change through awareness, advocacy and violence prevention strategies. The program empowers youth between the ages of 14-19 by educating them on healthy relationships, promoting awareness of teen dating violence, and enhancing community organizing skills.

This year, 23 youth leaders completed and graduated from the Institute! Back in person and hosted in our new downtown Metro office conference center, the youth leaders gathered together daily and learned about ending violence in their communities. The Institute first focused on learning about critical issues impacting the youth, their families and community via our In Touch With Teens Curriculum. And then in the last two weeks, they chose special projects through intern tracts. This year’s tracks were creative writing, podcast development and art and activism which we call artivism. Projects created reflected the theme of each track and implemented different violence prevention strategies.

At their graduation last week at the Bresse Foundation, the students had the opportunity to showcase what they learned throughout the summer and present their projects to their friends and family. Following graduation, these leaders will be influencing, organizing, and educating their school communities and undoubtedly will have impact on their families and the wider community. Check out this slideshow of photos from the summer, the final projects and the graduation ceremony!