Education | Activism Volunteer Opportunities

Youth United for Change (YUC) is a youth-led, democratic organization made up of youth of color and working class communities, with the “people” and political power to hold school officials and government accountable to meeting the educational needs of Philadelphia public school students. This is done through a process of school/community-based organizing where a diverse group of youth come together, identify common concerns in their schools/community and act collectively on their own behalf to create strategies for whole school reforms in the Philadelphia Public School System that better meet the needs of youth of color and working class communities. YUC believes that every young person deserves a quality public education that prepares him or her for success at a 4-year university, for a living wage job, and for active participation in civic life.

YUC has always followed a very specific school-based model of youth organizing; meaning students are organized through Chapters in their schools. Chapters, gain input from the general membership and the larger student body through listening campaigns. As a result of the listening campaign, YUC members identify specific issues, conduct research into the issues, develop and implement a strategy to address the issues, and hold public actions or meetings where a person in power publicly agrees to meet their demands. Our strategies around outreach, recruitment and retention have shifted to better meet the emotional and intellectual needs of the young people coming into our City Wide and Pushed Out Chapters which are not school based.

In YUC, we believe organizing for racial justice is two pronged. Leadership development/youth development must happen at the same time the technical aspects to organizing are happening. We do this by intentionally making time throughout the year where young people come and study the history of movements, how their racial, gender or cultural identities impact the individual and society as a whole, etc.

Website: http://www.youthunitedforchange.org/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Youth-United-for-Change-997287643671594/

Phone: (215) 423-9588

Location: 1910 North Front Street Philadelphia, PA 19122

We are Philadelphians Organized to Witness, Empower & Rebuild (POWER). We are congregations from all across the city, intentionally bringing people together across the lines of race, faith, income level and neighborhood — lines which have historically kept Philadelphians divided. We are people of faith committed to the work of bringing about justice here and now, in our city and our region. By strengthening and mobilizing our networks of relationships, we seek to exercise power in the public arena so that the needs and priorities of all Philadelphians are reflected in the systems and policies that shape our city.

POWER employs a model of organizing often referred to as “Faith-Based Community Organizing” (FBCO) and which is sometimes called “congregation-based” or “broad-based” community organizing. Faith-Based Community Organizing is grounded in key principles and stories from our major faith traditions and also draws from the spirit and lessons learned from some of the main historical movements for justice and progress in our nation’s history including the American Revolution, the Civil Rights Movement and other popular movements for justice.

POWER congregations are promoting a 5-part, multi-year organizing platform for policy change in the areas of Jobs, Education, Housing, Public Safety and Healthcare, with a first focus on a jobs plan for Philadelphia.

Volunteer with POWER

In addition to being a POWER leader in your congregation, you can offer your time and talents to POWER in the following ways: