By Chris Wilson-Smith & Michael Everett, MHS | July 25, 2019
HIV/Sexual Health Trainer (CW-S) & Project Coordinator (ME), ETR

How do we celebrate the innovative spirit of youth? How do we encourage young people's creative leadership and put it to work to solve real-world problems? How do we leverage youth interests and abilities in technology to amplify their power?

ETR’s YTH Initiative is delivering a mentorship program that will do all of these things. Introducing Project LIYT (Leadership + Innovation + Youth + Technology)! 

By ETR | June 18, 2019
 

It makes sense to engage young people in planning and implementing programs focused on youth. These steps can benefit organizations and communities as well as young people themselves. So…what do you do if you’re a believer, you want to see more youth engagement in your organization, but you’re under-resourced? Or your leadership isn’t on the same page? Or you’re just not sure how to proceed?

There are some fine resources that can offer guidance, but we’d like to suggest you start by watching this video from ETR Project Coordinator Alda Santana. 

By ETR | May 31, 2019
 

We are all members of a global society. We are excited that ETR’s recent merger with YTH brings a deeper and more experienced global perspective to our organization’s work. YTH has a long history of international work with youth communities. The YTH Initiative presence at the upcoming Women Deliver conference demonstrates this beautifully.

By Marcia Quackenbush, MS, MFT, MCHES | May 8, 2019
Senior Editor, ETR

One measure of a successful training or conference is whether you learned something useful. Did you change your thinking? Get inspired by leaders in the field? Will you do anything differently when you get back to your work?

By any of those measures, 2019’s YTH Live conference was simply dazzling for me. 

By Vignetta Charles, PhD | May 3, 2019
Chief Executive Officer, ETR

May the fourth be with you! It's a pretty awesome day for many of us at ETR because we love the chance to applaud/hail/praise Star Wars. In 2019, we are particularly celebrating how Star Wars inspires youth.

By George Weiner | April 18, 2019
Co-Founder and CTO, Power Poetry

A single poem—a simple combination of well-chosen words—can liberate a young person's soul. "A great poem is no finish to a man or woman, but rather a beginning," wrote Walt Whitman.

It is in this spirit of new beginnings that the To Be Heard Foundation (TBH) carries forth its mission: to educate youth through heightened literacy. We seek to empower youth as individuals, within their communities, and as social activists through a mastery of reading, writing and expression of poetry. The foundation sponsors the work of two core programs, Power Writers and Power Poetry.

By Ivan Garcia, with Erin McKelle | March 26, 2019
Youth Advocate and Sophomore, Head Royce School (IG) and Communications Associate, YTH (EM)

Erin: When we say we center youth-voices at the YTH Live conference, we mean it. Up to 25% of attendees and speakers are young people. We always feature a young member of our Youth Advisory Board as the face and voice of the event, in the role of emcee. This year, we are proud to announce that person is Ivan Garcia. 

By Josh Bettenhausen | March 8, 2019
Lead Technology & Marketing Officer, YTH

I’ve been working with youth-centered projects for well over a decade, both through my work at YTH and my experience as a designer. Here’s an essential point of learning from my experience: when it comes to youth, most of our assumptions are wrong. At the very least, they’re way off base, especially if we make those assumptions without getting youth directly and deeply involved in what we’re doing.