Following the success of our first-ever virtual sessions this summer, we are launching our first ever Winter YEA Camp!

One of the things that made our summer sessions so amazing was our incredible staff — all of whom were former YEA Campers and are now grown up with years of activism experience making a difference on causes like climate change, racism, LGBTQ equality, animal rights, mental health, and more.

We’re thrilled that most of our all-star team from this summer — Aine, Julia, Liam, and Maya — are able to join us again this summer, and we have added a few fresh faces, too — Ananya and Elyanna, amazing activists who were both speakers at the virtual camp this summer! These inspiring humans have over a decade of combined YEA Camp experience and have all done some incredible activism.

Throughout the week at YEA Camp, you’ll be learning about different types of activism, getting ideas for things you’ll want to do for the cause that’s most important to you (what we call your Issue of Importance, or IOI), and working on an activist project or two yourself! These are the staff members who will be your role models, advisors, cheer leaders, and mentors to help you put your passion into action — and that’s pretty special.

So without further ado, here is the YEA Camp Dream Team for Winter 2020.

Nora Kramer, YEA Camp Founder and Director (2009-present)

Current Issues Of Importance (IOIs): Factory farming, political accountability, mass incarceration

Just some accomplishments: Started and directed or co-directed 30 sessions of YEA Camp! Successfully coordinated grassroots volunteer efforts to qualify ballot initiatives in 2 states to outlaw some of the cruelest, unsustainable, and unsanitary practices on factory farms; passed out tens of thousands of leaflets; gathered several thousand signatures, including most recently for a measure that helped to stop a new prison from being built in Los Angeles. Wrote The Beginner’s Guide to Changing the World.

Reason for being on staff: “Activism can be really challenging, especially when you’re just getting started and not as confident. I love being able to help people on their path to make the biggest difference they can, and I love to surround myself with amazing changemakers who inspire me.”

Elyanna Calle, Counselor (YEA Camper: 2018)

IOIs: Animal rights and climate change

Just some accomplishments: Elyanna is a student at the University of Texas studying journalism. She attended camp back in 2018 with her IOI being animal rights. Since then she’s participated in many animal rights groups and organized protests and events. After that, she got involved in climate justice and organized two climate strikes in Olympia,WA — all while still in high school.

Reason for being on staff: “Since the day I left YEA camp I wanted to come back as a staff member. I learned such invaluable lessons and I want to give back to the program!”

Julia Clark, Counselor (YEA Camper: 2016, Virtual Counselor: Summer 2020) 

IOI: Racial Justice

Just some accomplishments: In high school, successfully led a student organization called Students for Change that removed confederate names and symbols from her public high school. Currently an outspoken activist, a local organizer in the Black Lives Matter movement, and the Vice President of UNC Black Student Movement, which is the largest cultural organization on UNCs campus.

Reason for being on staff: “To amplify the voices of young activists and use the knowledge I have gained to help others.”

Liam Davis-Bosch, Counselor (YEA Camper: 2015, 2016; YEA Camp Counselor: 2017, 2018; Virtual Counselor: Summer 2020)

IOIs: Mental Health and LGBTQ+ Rights, Climate Change, Education

Just some accomplishments: Former YEA Camper turned staff member that is currently studying neuroscience, psychology, and education at Pitzer College. From a young age, Liam has been involved with humane education and animal rights causes, which then sparked an interest in climate justice. Investigating these intersections led them to work with the Alliance for Climate Education working on youth education and empowerment and advocating for green energy legislation in New York State. More recently, Liam’s focus has been on alternative and accessible education through working as a youth ambassador with HundrED and conducting research on trauma-informed teaching and arts education. Created a resource guide for teaching with sensitivity to queer folx and those affected by mental illness.

Reason for being on staff: “I know from both being a young person and working with young people how truly powerful we are. There is a yearning for knowledge and a passion and drive that is unstoppable. When this is paired with education and support, I know that change can be made in this world. As someone that has benefited so much from this program I want the change to give that same experience to others.”

Maya Diaz-Villalta, Counselor (YEA Camper: 2017; Virtual Counselor: 2020)

IOI(s): Indigenous Rights and LGBTQ+ Rights

Just some accomplishments: Maya Diaz-Villalta (they/them) is a third year at Saint Mary’s College of California pursuing their degree in Anthropology and Dance. They have been an Indigenous Aztec dancer for fifteen years and are involved in various Indigenous communities. Maya is the founder of an organization called Naturalmente Indigena which serves Native youth to connect them to their culture, mother earth, and encourage higher education.  Maya serves and advocates for Indigenous, immigrant, and queer communities.  

Reason for being on staff: “To listen to young people’s ideas and help manifest their goals.”

Aine Pierre, Operations Manager (YEA Camper: 2015, 2016, 2018; Virtual Counselor: Summer 2020)

IOIs: LGBTQ+ Rights and Student Press Rights

Just some accomplishments: Headed the student advocacy chapter of the Garden State Scholastic Press Association for three years, changed the recycling system in her school district, and has written extensively on racial issues, immigration, mental health, etc. for her school newspaper, reaching a wide audience. Also served on the board of a horse sanctuary. Is now currently the Assistant News Editor for the student newspaper of Wake Forest, where she is studying political science and ancient civilizations.

Reason for being on staff: “YEA Camp was a transformative experience for me, allowing me to become more confident in myself, learn more about the issues of the world and how to make them a better place, and in building a community of changemakers that have become my lifelong friends. I want to give other kids the opportunity to experience that.”

Ananya Singh, Counselor (YEA Camper: 2015, 2017 YEA staff member 2018, 2019)

IOIs: Climate justice, social movements, education

Just some accomplishments: Longtime youth climate justice activist. Started Youth United Making An Impact, was a lead activist with Greenpeace, a Climate Justice League Fellow with Sierra Club, former CEO of Greening Forward, youth advisory council member and plenary speaker for National Youth Leadership Council. Currently a student at College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, Maine! I have an interdisciplinary major in human ecology

Reason for being on staff:  I love YEA Camp so much because it truly changed my life and shaped me into the activist I am today, and it’s such a special experience and community! Being able to give that experience to other people and help them discover their activist passions has been incredible!

Want to learn from these incredible changemakers? It’s not too late to register today for Winter YEA Camp. For more information about our amazing new winter program, head to yeacamp.org!

The post Meet Our Staff at Virtual YEA Camp’s Upcoming Winter Session appeared first on YEA Camp.

When we at YEA Camp recognized that we would need to cancel our in-person camps, we knew we weren’t going to sit this summer out.

We wanted to create something new to support so many young people wanting help to make a bigger difference on issues related to racism and police brutality, as well as many other issues our society has been struggling with long before we ever heard the word “coronavirus.”

YEA Campers are passionate about opposing racism as well as other social justice issues like climate change, LGBTQ equality, animal rights, mental health, gun control, poverty, and other pressing needs — and we were thrilled to be able to reimagine what we do at our in-person camps to create Virtual YEA Camp to help more than 100 teens and tweens on their change-making path.

Differences Between In-Person and Virtual YEA Camp

After more than a decade of running in-person camps, our planning team spent 2 months developing our approach to bring the best of what we do into a totally different virtual format.

YEA Camp’s curriculum is based on building knowledge about problems and solutions, skills to take effective action, confidence to believe in yourself and get out of your comfort zone, and community to know you’re supported and not alone. And that’s just what we did at Virtual YEA Camp.

While of course we love being together in-person, and there are certain things built into our regular curriculum that are tougher or impossible to do virtually, we found ways to incorporate new activities into our online program, including many we’re not normally able to do in person.

We had 4 sessions of Virtual YEA Camp. The first, World Changing 101, introduced basic ideas of privilege, 3 levels of activism we can do (individual, community, and institutional), and basics of campaigns and advocacy. In the second session, Exploring the Issues, we focused each day on a different social justice issue to learn more about it and the advocacy we can do to make a difference on that cause. Our third week, Amplifying Your Message, was all about skill-building, and we focused on improving communications skills, taught a workshop on campaign planning, and introduced campers to the basics of political organizing, grassroots advocacy, and social media activism. And finally week 4 was called Careers for Changemakers — a unique look at ways to envision a lifetime of making a difference.

We did virtual visits to 3 different animal sanctuaries, and we were able to have guest speakers that would never normally be able to make the trip to join us in the woods. We had incredible changemakers training our campers in how to make a difference, from social justice journalist Rose Aguilar of “Your Call Radio” to teen activist and youngest-ever TEDx speaker Genesis Butler; from the Institute for Humane Education’s founder Zoe Weil to Plant-Based on a Budget’s Toni Okamoto; President of the San Mateo County, CA, Board of Supervisors Warren Slocum, founder of the Embody Love Movement, Dr. Melody Moore; and so many more.

We had guest speakers who were educators, social entrepreneurs, therapists, chefs, attorneys, social workers, journalists, political organizers, and politicians — all speaking about their career paths, including the good, the bad, and the ugly.

And so many of our speakers were past campers, like Ananya Singh, Sarah Goody, and Elyanna Calle sharing about their environmental activism; Noor Aldayeh sharing about her expertise in social media, Ana Little-Sana advised campers on getting involved in politics, and Julia Clark talked us through the behind-the-scenes of how she successfully led a campaign to get the name of her high school changed from that of a confederate general to Justice High School(!).

Our starstruck campers loved our celebrity guests Daniella Monet and Daisy Fuentes, who both spoke about how they’ve used their platforms to make a bigger difference on causes they care about, how they deal with haters, and building up the courage to find your voice. We had virtual visits to animal sanctuaries; dance and yoga classes led by celebrity teachers; arts activism using Canva to create social media-ready images to share right away; and vegan cooking classes, including one with celebrity chef Eddie Garza, who taught us to make tamales — so good! And we had incredible yoga and dance instructor and choreographer SuzE Q leading classes each week.

All of Our Amazing Staff Members Were All Former Campers!

We also had incredible staff members advising and supporting our campers all the way through. Each one of our counselors — Aine Pierre, Emma Kossoy, Jocelynn Dow, Julia Clark, Liam Davis-Bosch, and Maya Diaz-Villalta — was a former camper themselves and so knew exactly the positive, inspiring, and fun vibe of our in-person camps to help replicate this experience virtually. Advisors Sarah and Miranda hugely helped campers with their CTW challenges and action plans, and Chef Miranda taught us her amazing chocolate chip cookie recipe. Assistant director Andina Aste-Nieto joined us for her 7th(!) summer with us, and her presence makes every YEA Camp better.

Each member of our staff was chosen in part because they have also done a huge amount of activism themselves, especially for their young age. All recent high school graduates or college students, members of our amazing staff have lobbied their Congressional officials, started and run community organizations, launched successful campaigns and initiatives at their schools, and much more.

Leveraging Virtual Format to Make a Bigger Difference

One unique difference between Virtual YEA Camp and our in-person camp was access to technology. Normally we have spotty wifi, a no cell phone policy to keep everyone present and free of distractions, and no computer lab or structure for everyone to have access to the Internet.

As we developed our plans for our Virtual YEA Camp and recognized we’d need to cut some things, we also realized that on the bright side we could incorporate technology in totally new ways that we never have in person to enable campers to work on activist projects together.

Matched with a staff member who has worked on their cause, and in a small group of other campers with the same Issue of Importance (IOI), each camper worked on CTW (Change the World!) projects each week.

Each small group was given assignments for the week to create a social media project to share resources or inspiration for why and how others should get involved in their cause. From reflecting on the Pillars of Support (or underlying reasons) that their issue exists to developing talking points and compiling lists of things people can do to make a difference, campers educated themselves and others about their cause. Their What Is Your Why projects also can be a source of ongoing inspiration to stay present to their passion over the long haul.

They also set group goals to do activism together each week, and then got into action throughout the day, having their small group and counselor for support along the way. Campers identified campaigns they cared about and the decision-makers who needed to be persuaded and made at least 5,533 advocacy calls, emails, and texts for their causes! Whether they called federal or local legislators, multinational corporations, or small businesses in their area, campers made their views heard — requesting charges brought against killer cops, support for eco-friendly policies, vegan food options, and other changes to make our world better.

While many sent texts and emails, we especially encouraged every camper to get over their fear of making calls. Doing role plays and practice calls together,  campers got more comfortable and also discovered that most calls are really short and simple. A one-sentence “Hi, I’m calling to ask you to …” is usually met with a respectful “OK, thanks for calling. I’ll pass that along. Have a nice day” — not arguments about how much a program will cost or questions about specifics they might not have the answers to on the tip of their tongue.

Several campers who got over their fears about making their first call ended up making over 30 calls each in just a few days and plan to include this approach in their future advocacy!

Campers also registered or reminded people in their lives and community to vote in this important upcoming election. In our workshop on politics, we talked about how there are so many ways you can be involved in an election, even if you’re too young to vote.

And campers fundraised! Each small group agreed on an organization working on their IOI and set an ambitious fundraising goal for the week. Some campers were terrified to reach out to people in their life to ask for donations and were inspired to see people they didn’t expect support their fundraisers!

Everybody dealt with some level of rejection or disappointment or anxiety of doing or saying the wrong thing, which are all important parts of activism that we need to get comfortable experiencing and overcoming. Hearing “no” can be really hard, but if we aren’t willing to hear “no” about the causes we believe in and the big changes we want to make, we likely won’t be hearing “yes” either.

In addition to all these group goals and challenges, every camper developed an action plan for how they want to make a difference once camp ended. They chose a cause to focus on, a goal and proposed date to achieve it by, and developed action steps to take along the way.

Many campers, especially those who were with us for multiple sessions, got to work on their plans too.

We know of at least 3 activist-related podcasts launched during YEA Camp, this online petition (please sign!) our amazing camper Rachel created to request climate change education in NY public schools, new social media platforms to raise awareness on different causes, arts activism created to raise awareness, people who went to their first-ever protest, and so much more that we don’t even know about and that will be developed and blossoming in the weeks, months, and years to come.

We couldn’t be more proud of our campers’ accomplishments this summer, and it was such a joy to see their own pride as well!

We’ll remember campers telling us “I FINALLY MADE A CALL!” and having them share about what it took for them to develop the courage to pick up the phone, push the buttons and make the call.

We’ll remember campers’ enthusiasm and pride when they saw people contributing to the online fundraiser their group had created just the day before.

We’ll remember so many campers starting to really see for themselves that they can make a difference, that all of our actions add up, that they are not alone and have a community of people now who support them and care as much as they do about making our world a better place.

And ultimately we’ll remember that we are resilient. That it wasn’t that long ago that YEA Camp was canceled and we had no idea what we might do instead. That we were googling “virtual camp” to find out what that even was — and to then imagine and create our version of what it could be.

That’s what activists do.

And it wouldn’t have been possible without so many of you. Our campers for caring so much and YEA Camp parents for trusting us with your kids. Our incredibly committed staff who made this whole new innovative program possible. Our brilliant speakers who so much of their wisdom and expertise with us. Volunteers involved in so many levels of our work. Our donors who make all of our work possible. And to many cheerleaders who appreciate and share our work. So many of you have been supporting us on this path and helped make this amazing summer possible for us. We are so grateful for all of you!

And now we want to build on our successes from this summer and continue to reinvent what is possible for our work and organization.

Want to know what’s next for YEA Camp? So do we! We have so many ideas and would love your help deciding and prioritizing. Fill out this survey to let us know what you think! And follow us on Facebook and Instagram to keep track of what we’ve got planned next.

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The category is…activism.

Set in a gritty 1987 New York, Pose depicts the LGBTQ world of balls, the competitive pageantry scene that allowed a marginalized group to shine, be seen, and garner credibility within the community. The show’s characters are all a part of houses, a family system formed because often trans and gay teens were kicked out of their biological family unit and left to fend for themselves. Having been through this experience herself, when Blanca (Mj Rodriguez) later finds out she is HIV positive, she decides to pay it forward by forming her own house. The House of Evangelista is a refuge for lost souls. Drama ensues as Blana’s house members become a family, competing with other houses for ultimate recognition in the ballroom world.

Needless to say, the series gives a much-needed history to a community whose stories often get buried amidst the Reagan-era, Trump age-of-opulence, Wall Street woes. Apart from the 1991 documentary, Paris is Burning, this community has barely been chronicled. In this way, the show itself is a form of activism. As the general public pushed LGBTQ members to the fringe of society, and the medical community struggled with how to treat the AIDS epidemic, these gay, trans, Black, Latino protagonists are showcased in all their glory. In Pose, it is the wealthy, white, male, bankers and real estate developers who are relegated to the periphery.

Who Are the Characters?

Each character in Pose finds their own way to gracefully fight the system and give back to their community. They do this even though they have little to spare. (Slight spoilers ahead) Blanca offers her children shelter, protection, and support to uplift the community. Her fiercest competitor, Elektra (Dominique Jackson), considers undergoing gender-reassignment surgery even though it may mean losing everything she has. At one point, emcee extraordinaire, Pray Tell (Billy Porter), uses his limited resources to put together a cabaret show to cheer up patients in the AIDS ward. Season two will delve deeper into AIDS activism and dealing with the decimation of a community. Pose’s characters risk everything they have because they don’t have a choice, the other alternatives are homelessness, loneliness… death.

Pose is an exploration of what it means to be a woman. The show unapologetically births characters to us as they are. Characters who are glamorous, confident, females, friends, sisters, daughters, and mothers. Viewers never see the internal struggle around transforming into the women they are because they already embody womanhood in spades. (This show has taught me more about femininity than anything I have ever experienced). The struggles each character faces are all external: the world and how it receives them. Thus further defining womanhood: an elegant battle painstakingly fought in the shadows that no one knows was fought.

Who Are the Minds Behind Pose?

The show’s palpable authenticity comes from the creators (Steven Canals, Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk) collaborating with transgender writers/producers (Janet Mock, Our Lady J), directors, and actors. In fact, never in the history of television has the silver screen shown five transgendered, women of color, who are series regulars.  The commitment to accurate storytelling by using the artists best suited to tell those stories has resulted in a living, breathing statement of what it means to be trans.

To someone in the community, the show offers aspirational figures to look up to, who can help navigate tough situations. To people outside of the community, Pose gives an inside look into the hardships, pain, family, and love. Half-way through the series, you seem to forget the characters are transgendered and their experiences are normalized. It simply becomes a show about a family you want to be a part of, one of unconditional love and acceptance.

Why is This So Important Right Now?

The show rises at a time when trans rights are on the chopping block in this current administration. Trump Tower is even highlighted in Season 1. We are left to wonder, more than thirty years after this show takes place, how far have we really come? Perhaps the answers lie in digging for the stories untold. Perhaps the answer is in choosing to see the unseen and remembering that the loss of one person’s rights, is a loss for everyone’s rights. In the words of Indya Moore who plays Angel, “We need to stop treating respect like it’s a privilege. Respect is a responsibility.”

Pose season 1 is now streaming on Netflix. Season 2 debuts on 6/11 on FX.

If you are passionate about LGBTQ rights or any other progressive issues and you want to learn to be more active on those causes, check out YEA Camp this summer. For the past 10 years, we have been training people to make a bigger difference in the world. We also have a great time doing it. This summer, we have two sessions for teens and one session of YEA Camp for Adults, with folks coming from all over the country to attend. We hope you’ll join us there.

About the Author: Camilla Rubis is a TV Writer in Los Angeles and a volunteer for YEA Camp. She’s currently pursuing the spread of financial literacy to empower and support future generations.

About this Post: Netflix and Activate is a column profiling shows and films that activate us and awaken our inner activist.

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Summer camp for adults was the last thing on my mind on a hot day in June 2018. Well, second to the fact that I had 200 unread emails waiting for me. In hindsight, one of those emails would turn into the miracle I didn’t know I needed.

I was almost to an empty inbox when I saw an email from Nora Kramer.

“YEA Camp” was in the title of the email and I unknowingly opened it, intrigued. As I read more and more about it I found myself filling out an application for the first ever adult camp series.

The timing could not have been any more perfect. It was June 29th, 2018 and camp was starting on July 1st, in only two days. I scrambled to reach out and make all the proper arrangements. Nora responded quickly and kindly about making this a possibility for me.

I got my round trip bus ticket to High Falls, New York and waited for Kali, one of the camp counselors, to come pick me up. Kali and I were instant friends. We talked about our blackness, veganism, and cultural exchange. I knew that I made the best last minute choice ever.

Arriving at Camp

Once we arrived, I chose my bed and met the other campers and counselors in the main area. I got to create my name tag and fill out a cute questionnaire. From the very beginning everyone was warm and inviting. I felt like I could come as who I was, no questions asked. I was learning a lot about people and the causes that fueled them and I felt re-energized. The more involved I got in these conversations the more I began to think critically about my own life, my cause, and why it was important to me.

Why YEA Camp for Adults is Special

In my mind the phrase #BlackLivesMatter kept ringing in my head. I care about people, equity, and equality. Quickly, I realized I was in the right place to feed that passion and care. After hours of mingling, learning and unlearning, and eating amazing vegan food, I knew that YEA Camp would forever have a piece of my heart and soul. I knew that the bonds and relationships that we were able to create in a week would last a lifetime.

Staying Involved

Being able to volunteer with YEA Camp is the best way to stay intimately connected with its efforts. I want to share this message so other students casually checking their emails can stumble across the same kind of miracle.

Are you passionate about making the world a better place? YEA Camp for Adults will help you identify how you can get more active and effective on a cause you care about in ways that inspire you. Join us this summer! Go to YEACamp.org/adults to learn more.

Monik Walters is studying Geography and African-American Studies at Dartmouth College. She is the student body president of Dartmouth and the president of the school’s chapter of the NAACP. She attended YEA Camp for Adults in 2018 and worked at YEA Camp for Adults in 2019. She is passionate about civil rights and Black social justice.

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YEA Camp for Adults will be amazing! Join us!

As we prepare for our second year of YEA Camp for Adults, we wanted to share more about its purpose, ways it’s similar but also different from a typical leadership or activism conference or training or retreat, and how it might be the most fun you’ve ever had focusing on self-care, personal growth, and changing the world.

We are living in a time when children are being separated from their families at the border, when those in power are ignoring scientists’ warnings about climate catastrophe, and the richest 26 people in the world currently own the same wealth as the poorer half of the entire global population. These are just a few of the most devastating injustices we are facing.

It’s enough to make a big-hearted person feel totally demoralized, check out, or give up.

But, thankfully, many people who have never been activists before are getting involved and inspired to bring about change.

Seeing this has been incredible! People are attending their first marches and getting involved in politics for the first time. They’re donating money, having uncomfortable conversations to challenge outdated thinking, and on and on.

For the past 10 years, YEA Camp has been training teens to make a bigger difference on the social justice causes they care most about, and we recognize that folks 18 and up have some of the same needs as teens do to get involved at higher levels than ever before.

That’s why we created YEA Camp for Adults.

Check out our new video about YEA Camp for Adults!

Changing the world is hard! Not only does it take knowledge about issues and skills to make an impact, it takes self-confidence to get out of our comfort zone, and community to learn from and work with.

So many people got their start as changemakers by mostly stumbling along without a plan or rationale. It’s often lonely and time-consuming to try things out without much in the way of relevant knowledge, skills, mentorship, or even open conversations with experienced activists to help navigate a path that is inherently entrepreneurial and against the status quo.

Left to our own devices, it’s too easy to just like posts on social media, go to a march every few months, and complain about all of the world’s problems without doing much of anything about them.

That’s where we try to intervene and make a real difference. We leverage the experience of our staff to help kickstart or up-level your activism.

Social Justice Activism and Leadership Training for Aspiring Activists

At YEA Camp, we curate the most foundational concepts and skills that we want to make sure every changemaker has in their toolkit. Things like:

• Fundamental strategies for understanding and chipping away at racism, sexism, and other forms of oppression
• Intersectionality and how different social justice issues relate to one another
• Evaluating our habits and choices to see how our daily actions and purchases can be some of the simplest ways we can make a difference
• Going deeper and examining our limiting beliefs and fears to help us find our voice and tap into our power
• Tapping into our resilience when we feel overwhelmed and demoralized by the state of the world
• Communication skills to help us have more effective interactions with people who we disagree with, especially those in positions of power — and to know when to avoid these interactions
• Skills to inspire others to get involved, to use social media or grassroots outreach effectively, to raise money for your cause, or to launch a socially responsible business or venture
• Interactive activities tailored to different learning styles and to help you apply everything you learn
• Tapping into our creativity and using the existing skills we each have to find our niche and make a difference in a way that is most appropriate for each of us
• Developing strategies to assess the best use of our time, and to make a plan that inspires us

Why A Summer Camp for Activists?

So many reasons! Let’s focus on three.

Join us at YEA Camp for Adults at Woodstock Farm Sanctuary, just outside of New York City.

1. Summer camp brings together the elements of fun, inspiration, and relaxation. As activist-minded people, we can become focused on all the problems in the world. In comparison to so many injustices, it could feel impossible or selfish to enjoy our lives. We hope you’ll see that taking time to be out in nature, be silly, and enjoy life is a long-term investment in your activism. It can help us replenish our energy and inspiration so that we can think clearly and truly be of service to others.

2. Camp inherently challenges us to get out of our comfort zones.

   From meeting new people, to being open to the unknown, to the most basic adjustments to new food and a bed that’s not your own. But as we tap into our courage in a safe environment, we can build a muscle that actually expands the size of our comfort zone. Things that made us nervous before become not so scary, and that is hugely helpful for any activist. With an activist mindset, we see infinite opportunities to take action beyond what we’ve done before, where we’re not sure what to expect, or where we may be opening ourselves up for criticism or perceived failure. We can all benefit by getting more comfortable getting out of our comfort zones.

3. Camp might be the best place in the world to reinvent yourself.

   Most of us spend the majority of our time with the same people.  Our coworkers, family, friends, neighbors, and even ourselves know us to be a certain way. We are a product of our past ways of being and seeing ourselves. But what if we want to re-evaluate who we are or how we want to approach life? What if we want to pursue new passions or set new goals? That can be hard to just wake up and do one day over breakfast or at work.

Being at camp is transformational.

You get to show up as whoever you want to try out being. If you’re naturally shy, what if you try being outgoing? In a welcoming environment where nobody knows you, we won’t even know you’re just trying that out!

This is an opportunity to brainstorm a new way to get involved in your community or a more inspired career. We will have no judgments –just offer support and thoughtful input if you ask for it.

There are conferences and trainings to learn about specific problems in the world or to build specific skills. But they’re usually boring or stuffy, in a sterile hotel conference room all day packed with people you won’t get to know, and with someone droning on to explain a PowerPoint you could have read at home.

But what if you could learn the basics of what you need to know to make a bigger difference while also having one of the most fun weeks of your life, building strong bonds with like-minded supportive people, and spending time in nature rejuvenating yourself so that you feel inspired rather than drained?

That’s YEA Camp!

Details, Please?!

YEA Camp for Adults is a leadership training and activist retreat all held on the grounds of an animal sanctuary!

YEA Camp for Adults is held at the incredible Woodstock Farm Sanctuary — a home for rescued farmed animals who will be some of our hosts and friends as we enjoy our own sanctuary during our time together. We chose June 30-July 6, the week of July 4th, so it will be easier to get away.

We only have 50 beds, so this will be an intimate setting. Everyone will get to know everyone and nobody can fall through the cracks. The accommodations are modern, and we will have a personal vegan chef cooking for us! We also promise you will become friends with creatures with 2 legs, 4 legs, and even wings!

We also offer a sliding scale and financial aid to make it easier for people to be able to come.

If you’re passionate about making a bigger difference in the world, YEA Camp was created with you in mind.

Summer is fast approaching! We hope you will take advantage of this once-a-year opportunity to take your change-making to new heights!

Check out our event page here. And find out more or register to join us this summer by visiting our website here.

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