Alliance Youth Network - a great opportunity for Nashville youth

Oasis Center is a partner with America’s Promise Alliance (www.americaspromise.org) and Nashville has been named a “Feature Community” for their work around the country. As part of this, America’s Promise would like to have a core group of young people from Nashville to be a part of the Alliance Youth Network. The application deadline is April 6, 2009.

From the AYN:

“At the Alliance, we believe that young people should be empowered to take action to solve the challenges facing their communities. The Alliance Youth Network (AYN) will be comprised of over 150 young leaders just like yourself, working at the national, state, and local levels. Once you become an AYN member, you’ll be part of a national movement of civically-engaged young people, taking action in their networks and communities to reach the overarching goal of America’s Promise Alliance and its partners, improving the lives of 15 million young people all over the country. The AYN will offer opportunities to network and collaborate, attend national conventions, gain access to multiple resources and trainings, and receive personal staff and peer-based support, year-round. With these tools, AYN members will reshape and improve existing projects or create all-new projects addressing a community issue of personal interest. You have been selected to become one of the members of the Alliance Youth Network for your exemplary work through one of the Alliance partners. We hope you will join the movement.

If selected for the AYN, you’ll be invited to join us at the AYN’s opening National Summit to be held May 30 – June 1, 2009 in Washington D.C. AYN members nationwide will convene to discuss their service work in general, and their work within their youth-serving organization. They will consider the networks and communities they serve, and individually determine the needs of children and youth in those communities. Interactive trainings in both techniques (like fund-raising, advocacy, etc.) and particular subjects (eg. service learning) will equip members with new skills and resources to tackle issues in new and innovative ways. Finally, AYN members will break into unique issue groups and outline a set of next steps that each member can take back to his or her community or network, to get the effort started.

After the conference the work truly begins. AYN members will take what they’ve learned and the connections they’ve made back to their networks and develop or improve a project to take new steps to provide more support to America’s children. Throughout the year, the Alliance and its partners will support and celebrate the work of the AYN members through technical assistance, funding opportunities, invitations to conferences, webinars, and spotlighting in various Alliance media. AYN members will update the group online as to their project’s progress, and exchange best practices and challenges to support one another. Through the work of the Alliance Youth Network, young people nationwide will take action and drastically improve their communities for children."

To get your application, call Oasis Center at 327-4455.