YVote Change Makers Institute
2023-2024
The YVote Change Makers Institute brings together civically-motivated high school students across the five boroughs of New York City to develop and strengthen key civic skills. Through monthly virtual sessions and Afternoons of Action, youth explore tools for making change in their own communities—from voting, to advocacy, to peer learning, and more.
The program is issue-based and peer-led. The curriculum is designed by youth facilitators (ages 17-24) who also run the program itself, sharing their own civic journeys and motivations with participants. Each session focuses on different civic skills through the lens of specific social issues identified by participants as most important to them.
Interested in joining the Summer Change Makers Institute? Applications go live in April! Follow us on social media @YVoteNY or subscribe to our monthly newsletter to be notified.
Change Maker Virtual Sessions
| Date | Theme | Key Goals |
| October 3rd Watch the session here | Welcome + Introduction to Organizing! | Building community and relationships Defining civic engagement and exploring barriers to/different manifestations of civic engagement Learning about and analyzing local organizing movements Being exposed to the different aspects of organizing (with a focus on research/policy) |
| November 7th Watch the session here | The Role of Government–and Voting–in our Lives | Understanding the powers of different levels of government Synthesizing personal experiences + background knowledge to think about the state of our democracy Bonding with other YVoters Discussing the way formal policy impacts our lives + how this knowledge can be leveraged for advocacy |
| December 5th Watch the session here | Media & Political Culture | Understand how people use social media to get information about politics. Explore how social media shapes our perceptions of different identities. Analyze how social media and news influence political discourse and civic engagement. Encourage participants to reflect on their own media consumption habits and make commitments to improve their media literacy. |
| January 9th Watch the session here | Power in Politics | Participate in brainstorming sessions and group decision-making Be aware of important political campaigns Assess a political candidate’s platform Reflect on and assess one’s own proximity to power, privilege and oppression Make connections with peers from different backgrounds and diverse perspectives/ Learning how to foster discussion among people with different perspectives |
| February 6th Watch the session here | Oppression & Overcoming | Reflect on and assess one’s proximity to power, privilege, and oppression Make connections with peers from different backgrounds and diverse perspectives Engage and ask good questions of politicians and/or civic leaders Use personal experience and storytelling in your communication tools about an issue |
| March 5th | Stay tuned! | |
| April 2nd | Stay tuned! | |
| May 7th | Stay tuned! | |
| June 5th | Stay tuned! |
Afternoons of Action
Each month, YVoters gather in person to deepen their connections and put their civic passions into action. They host expert guest speakers, canvas in communities, conduct voter registration efforts, and more. See snapshots from a few of this year’s Afternoons of Action—most of which were held at the NY Society for Ethical Culture—below!
October: YVoters explored what community engagement and community action looks like, by generating ideas for projects that could be funded through the NYC Civic Engagement Commission’s Participatory Budgeting campaign and creating “Issue Trees” to explore the root causes of social issues.
November: YVoters canvassed at the Office of Neighborhood Safety’s Leadership Council Summit, investigating why people do or do not vote or civically participate. In advance of the canvassing, YVoters researched specific policies to understand the populations these policies impact, in order to “humanize” politics and see the real consequences policies have on individuals.
December: YVoters created “civic vision boards” to set individual and collective civic goals for the new year. Then, alumni joined for the YVote Annual Holiday Party which included games, gingerbread house competitions, and gratitude reflections for 2023.
January: YVoters examined different methods of activism, including boycotts, social media, volunteering, protesting, and art. Then, they used what they learned to create their own advocacy campaigns in small groups.
February: YVoters were joined by Erika Howard, Director of Impact Strategy & External Relations at Frontline PBS, for a presentation connecting the role of youth to create change, the contributions of young people to the Civil Rights Movement during Freedom Summer, and the role of media in both informing young change makers and covering their activism.
