Leadership Training for Social Change
Join us online + make a difference IRL!
JULY 11-15, 2022
For aspiring changemakers ages 10-17
Because we could all use a little help making a big difference.
You might have noticed there are some big problems in the world.
Obviously COVID, but also racism and police brutality, climate change, sexism, homophobia, poverty, gun violence, animal cruelty.... Should we go on?
Since 2009, we've helped over 1,500 aspiring activists make a bigger impact on the causes they care about.
They've done amazing things, like change school policies, help get candidates elected, organize walk-outs, launch school clubs, and so much more that they say wouldn't have happened without their experience at YEA Camp.
If you care about making our world a better place, YEA Camp was meant for you.
Virtual YEA Camp Will Help You:
- Learn more about the problems in the world and what you can do about them
- Develop practical activist skills you can use to make a difference
- Build your confidence and mindset to step up as a leader, express yourself with pride, and do what you believe in
- Make friends with other amazing humans who will inspire and support you
- Develop a plan and take action to make a difference in a way that inspires you
- Have so much fun and learn a ton that you would probably not learn elsewhere
The knowledge, skills, confidence, and community that you build through our youth activism camp will help you make a bigger difference on the causes you care about for years to come.
Check out our schedule to plan out your week!
We'll have campers from all over the US and maybe beyond joining us, so we're displaying our schedule on east and west coast times. If needed, here's some help converting to other time zones.
Each day of YEA Camp, you'll get to experience:
- A teach-in activism training to help you take your change-making to new heights
- Doing activism projects and creating an action plan for what you want to do next
- Happy Hour for fun activities to help build healthy and sustainable habits for your change-making future
- Evening activities to make friends, build your community, and celebrate what's next
- Enough time and flexibility to do other things with your day.
Of course we want you to come to everything, but we understand if you need to miss an activity or a day! We'll send you recordings so you can catch up when you have time.
You don't want to miss this amazing week!
This sounds amazing! How do I join?
Tuition for this amazing full week of Virtual YEA Camp is $300.
Note that every activity at Virtual YEA Camp is optional, so it's OK if you need to miss something. Activities will be recorded to watch at your convenience, with the exception of activities in breakout rooms, which Zoom does not allow to be recorded.
Sign up for both Virtual YEA Camp and in-person YEA Camp in Massachusetts August 6-14 and get $100 off!
Ask us about sibling or group discounts!
How to Register
There are 3 parts to our registration process.
- Campers or guardians fill out Part 1 of our registration form with your contact info.
- Campers fill out Part 2. Don't stress -- this is not an essay or application. It just helps us get to know you and it shouldn't take more than 10 minutes.
- Once part 2 is submitted, you'll be taken to the payment page. Camper and guardian will also both be emailed with a link to make a payment. Registration is not final until payment is made.
Financial Aid
If money would be the reason you can't attend, please apply for financial aid! We work on an honor system so your family can pay what it can afford, if anything.
How Will You Change The World?
Everyone at camp will be doing a CTW project -- as in Change the World!
In small groups, and alongside an amazing staff member, you will get to:
EDUCATE yourself and others
Learn about the cause you care most about. Create your What Is Your Why, help develop a resource guide on your issue, and learn all you'll need to know to advocate for your cause.
ADVOCATE for what you care about.
You'll get to make calls, write letters, post on social media, make art, and persuade people to take action you believe in.
DONATE even if you don't have any money!
Your small group will raise funds for the organization of your choice to help make an even bigger difference.
IDEATE 🙂 and PLAN how you will take action once youth activism camp is over.
Plan what's next for your cause once youth activism camp is over.
We can't wait for you to join us for this amazing opportunity to collaborate with other changemakers to get your activism off the ground.
FAQ for Virtual YEA Camp
Awesome you've been to a YEA Camp before and want to join us again!
This upcoming virtual session is similar enough to previous virtual sessions we've done that you if you liked those, you'll like this one -- and it will be different enough that you'll still get tons of value from it.
And our virtual programs are very different from in-person YEA Camp: they have the same vibe, but the activities are definitely different and we actually get to work on activism together.
If you had a great experience at a past session of YEA Camp, we think you'll love this upcoming session too!
And if you're totally new to YEA Camp but care about social justice and want to make our world a better place, we think you'll love it too!
You are totally invited to join us for both our in-person and virtual camps this summer, and if you register for both you'll get $100 off!
While of course we would love for you to join us for the whole week and for every activity each day (and we don't think you'll want to miss anything!), it's totally up to you if you skip something. We will be recording everything so you can watch what you miss later! Note: When activities are done in breakout rooms, activities cannot be recorded.
YEA Camp is designed to help move you further along on your changemaking journey. We always have lots of campers who are just getting started and lots who have done a lot, and we plan our curriculum for everyone along that spectrum, including everyone in between.
We create opportunities for campers to learn from each other, building leadership and activist skills in the process. You will never be made to feel bad for not having done more -- and if you've done a lot, you'll get to ask specific questions and get personalized help taking your changemaking to new heights.
We are confident that wherever you are on your path, you will learn a ton, make amazing friends, build your confidence, and have lots of fun.
There is still space available! We don't have a registration deadline as long as space is still available, and if we fill up we will update the front page of our website to say so. The earlier you register, the more we can make sure to be prepared to help you with the cause you're most passionate about and plan to hire accordingly.
Somebody will be the youngest/oldest, and it is possible that it might be you! But that's OK!
Unlike school and most youth programs, we don't divide campers up by age.
We've found that sometimes our youngest campers know more about topics YEA Camp teaches about than our oldest campers, which is really cool! We'll never ask anyone to say their age, and we're sure you'll fit in with the other amazing campers at YEA Camp!
If you're still feeling anxious about this, a key component to YEA Camp's leadership training is creating an environment where people feel more comfortable going outside their comfort zone. Consider this an opportunity to overcome this fear in an environment where we will all be rooting for your success.
No! So many of our campers who attended Virtual YEA Camp over the past 2 summers or winters have told us that they wish their online school classes were like YEA Camp!
Virtual YEA Camp is designed in a practical way to help you make a bigger difference on a cause you are passionate about -- unlike school which is often focused on trying to get you to learn facts so you can do well on tests in subjects you're not interested in.
Our workshops and Change the World activities are focused on teaching you the basics of what you need to know and kickstarting your activism. Our Happy Hour activities are designed to be fun and interactive while also helping you in your activism, like vegan cooking classes, arts activism, and improv games to give you practice thinking on your feet (definitely necessary for activism!), and our evening activities not only are meant to build friendships and community with other like-minded changemakers but to develop your people skills and overcome shyness.
If you want help making the world a better place, YEA Camp is meant for you!
Praise from Past YEA Campers
"For me, YEA Camp was a very clear turning point [when I was 12 years old] where before this moment I was not an activist and I did not know what an activist even was, and then after this moment... that was really a spark for me. It was really a life-changing experience for me.
[YEA Camp takes the approach of] breaking down what is possible for young people to do and then giving them the confidence, the community, the courage, and also the tangible skills and the knowledge to really implement these things."
-Ananya Singh, youth climate organizer; CEO, Greening Forward
" Five and a half years ago, as a 15-year-old, I attended YEA Camp for the first time and my life was changed immeasurably.
I can’t imagine how different my life would have been from then on had I not spent that pivotal week learning what it means to be an effective agent of change and forming lasting connections that supported, and continue to support me, as I navigate a chosen path of social justice and fighting for what I believe in."
-Leah Kelly, college student; led successful campaign to get Meatless Mondays in her school district
“If not for YEA Camp, I wouldn’t be starting this club to help the homeless because I wouldn’t know how to, or what to do when I started it.”
-Megan Frisella, founder of Helping Hands for the Homeless club, which has raised thousands of dollars for homeless people in Boston
“You all changed my life a couple summers ago. YEA Camp changed my focus in life and opened my mind to compassion and love for everyone. I have gotten into amazing colleges because I learned so much from everyone that one week in July many months ago and I couldn’t have done it without YEA Camp.”
-Ethan Lyne, political organizer.
Ethan was a leader in the successful campaign to get a polling place at his school, Haverford College.
Praise from Past YEA Campers
"For me, YEA Camp was a very clear turning point [when I was 12 years old], where before this moment I was not an activist and I did not know what an activist even was, and then after this moment... that was really a spark for me. It was really a life-changing experience for me.
[YEA Camp takes the approach of] breaking down what is possible for young people to do and then giving them the confidence, the community, the courage, and also the tangible skills and the knowledge to really implement these things."
-Ananya Singh, youth climate organizer; CEO, Greening Forward
"Five and a half years ago, as a 15-year-old, I attended YEA Camp for the first time and my life was changed immeasurably.
I can’t imagine how different my life would have been from then on had I not spent that pivotal week learning what it means to be an effective agent of change and forming lasting connections that supported, and continue to support me, as I navigate a chosen path of social justice and fighting for what I believe in."
-Leah Kelly, college student; led successful campaign to get Meatless Mondays in her school district
"If not for YEA Camp, I wouldn't be starting this club to help the homeless because I wouldn't know how to, or what to do when to start it."
-Megan Frisella, 12, founder of Helping Hands for the Homeless club
"You all changed my life a couple summers ago. YEA Camp changed my focus in life and opened my mind to compassion and love for everyone. I have gotten into amazing colleges because I learned so much from everyone that one week in July many months ago, and I couldn't have done it without YEA Camp."
-Ethan Lyne, 18, political organizer
Still have questions? Send us an email, chat with us in the chat box, or give us a call at 415-710-7351. We'll be happy to answer any questions you have!
We look forward to speaking with you or, better yet, meeting you at Virtual YEA Camp this summer!