Well, we can hardly believe it, but Youth Empowered Action (YEA) Camp is preparing for its 15th (!) summer training aspiring activists! (Two of those were virtual because of the Covid pandemic, but they still count in our book!)

So. after 32 in-person camps, 12 virtual sessions, and lotssss of testimonials, we are pretty confident we know what to expect. And we want you to know too!

So here, in no particular order, are 15 things you can expect as a camper (or guardian of a camper, or even as a staff member!) at YEA Camp this summer.

1. Finding Your People and Fitting In Perfectly

Our campers are some of the best humans in the world. They literally want to spend part of their summer vacation learning how they can make a bigger difference in the world. If only everyone wanted to do that! But many of our campers tell us that at school they sometimes (or maybe always) feel like that they don’t quite fit in, or that they are one of the only people at their school who cares about a certain issue.

At YEA Camp, they fit in perfectly. They’ll meet people just as passionate as they are about a certain cause. And they’ll meet people who are super passionate about other causes they might not know as much about.

And then of course there’s our amazing staff! These are some of the best role models a young person could ask for.(We’re hiring, by the way!)

These are like-minded people who can be friends or mentors for life and have way more in common than classmates at school. If you’re wondering what to expect from other campers or staff at YEA Camp, if you’re passionate about making a difference on progressive causes, we know you’ll fit right in.

2. Feeling Hopeful and Inspired

Don’t get us wrong. If you’re paying attention to the state of the world, there are lots of reasons to be demoralized and pissed off. We actually talk a lot about that at YEA Camp. This is not some Polyanna utopia where we tell you that everything is magically going to be OK. We’re not going to solve all of the world’s problems by the end of camp.

But you will learn how change happens and meet other people who are making a difference on the causes you care about. You will see that while we have every right to be angry or down about the state of the world, there are also reasons for optimism that can inspire action.  Our campers report feeling much more hopeful about the state of the world after camp than when they arrived.

YEA Camp’s Changemaker Toolbox

3. Build Your Changemaker Toolbox

Everything we do at YEA Camp is designed to develop 4 core areas that we feel are critical for activists.

First is knowledge. Knowledge about problems in the world and knowledge about solutions to those problems.

Next is skills to actually do something about those problems.

Then there’s building confidence. Developing knowledge and skills also builds confidence, but we will go a lot deeper than that.

And finally, there’s community so that you know you’re not alone. And you’re definitely not.

(More on all of these below!)

4. Figuring Out What to Do

Our campers show up to YEA Camp passionate about making an impact on at least one cause, but often they don’t know what to do or how or why to do it.

You’ll have the first half of camp to learn about different issues. Then, at about the midway point, you’ll get to choose what we call your Issue of Importance (IOI). This is the issue you primarily want to focus on.

At YEA Camp, we will teach you what we call the 4 Levels of Activism. This will give you tons of ideas to help you get started.

Then we’ll teach skills like effective communication, campaign planning, fundraising, grassroots outreach, and lots more. Want to learn more about politics? You’re in the right place. Maybe you want to start a school club? We’ve got you covered.

These are all actions you can take to make a difference on the cause you care about in a way that inspires you.

Don’t worry. You actually don’t need to know that much to get started on any of these things, but YEA Camp is one of the only places where you can get just enough training to get started or get serious about making a difference.

5. Figuring Out What to Say

Sometimes the hardest part about being an activist can be knowing what to say in different situations.

Maybe someone is legitimately curious about your cause, and you have a chance to educate and inspire them! Fantastic! At YEA Camp, you’ll develop your talking points, your elevator pitch, and your answers to the most frequently asked questions about your issue.

On the other hand, sometimes people just want to give us a hard time and don’t actually care about our cause. We’ll teach you about the Spectrum of Agreement, which will help you know how to handle this. Some people just aren’t worth your time, and we’ll help you prepare for these situations so you can handle yourself with poise.

What if you have a chance to do public speaking or to talk with a decision maker with power over your issue? We’ll help you with that too!

Everyone gets better with practice.

6. Using Your Unique Passions and Creativity For Your Cause

Are you passionate about art — whether it’s visual art like painting or music and spoken word? We do a workshop on arts activism to help you express yourself creatively for your cause! Maybe you love social media? We will teach you some key tools to apply those skills to get the word out about your issue.

We all have certain things we love to do or are just good at. Maybe you love to write or cook or skateboard?

There are so many ways to make a difference, and they are not all going to protests or public speaking.

We’ll do a whole activity to help you brainstorm how to creatively apply your natural gifts and passions for a cause you care about.

7. Overcoming Your Limiting Beliefs

We mentioned that as you learn more about your cause and what to do about it, it will build your confidence. But we all have self doubts and limiting beliefs that can hold us back. Really, we hold ourselves back when we believe these things.

We get deep into this. What do you tell yourself about why you can’t be successful? Why do you think people won’t listen to you? Is that actually true and a legitimate reason? Did you come out of the womb as someone who is “shy,” “a procrastinator,” or for whatever other reason you might have not able to make an impact? We think not!

Developing a positive mental attitude will help you in every aspect of your life in and outside of activism.

We describe the food at YEA Camp as kid-friendly vegan.

8. Eat Amazing Food!

YEA Camp takes our food very seriously!

We are powering the next generation of changemakers, and that means we need to feed you well!

To us “well” means several things.

It means the food has to be a perfect combo of healthy, delicious, filling, and ethical. That’s why we have the most amazing chefs cooking at YEA Camp!

Want to know more about the food at YEA Camp or even see some sample menus to know what to expect?

Read more about our food here!

9. Silliness and Fun

YEA Camp is not all serious workshops and vegan brownies. We do a lot of goofy activities and offer 2-3 hours a day of free time with lots of fun activities to choose from.

YEA Camp is held at a camp right on a like, where campers love to go swimming or kayaking. We have a basketball court, a Gaga pit, volleyball, soccer, or picnic tables if you just want to hang out and chat.

Whether you like to get up early to go for a run or do yoga, or you prefer to sleep in and rest, there’s a great combo of camp time and down time to enjoy your summer.

YEA Camp has beautiful, modern camp facilities

10. Beautiful and Comfortable Facilities Out In Nature

YEA Camp is held at a gorgeous camp in the Berkshire mountains of western Massachusetts. Not sure what to expect from our cabins? Don’t worry! Our facilities are super modern and comfortable. Of course there are the basics, like cabins with electricity and indoor bathrooms. Plus there’s gorgeous views while we eating overlooking the lake, and fresh air and quiet away from the busyness of city life. Well see geese and birds and squirrels and if we’re lucky, some deer. We’re pretty sure you’ll see more stars at YEA Camp than you do at home, too!

11. Getting Out of Your Comfort Zone

Changing the world can look lots of different ways, and we want you to build your muscles for taking action in ways that might push your comfort.

What if you had the opportunity to speak to your whole class, your whole school, or maybe your school principal, or the city council about your cause? Would you do it or would you say no because you’d be too nervous?

We will create an environment where you will be able to challenge your comfort zone. Don’t worry. We won’t make you do anything you don’t want to do. But we will encourage you because YEA Camp is designed to train you in a way that will make it easier for you to say yes and step up in the future when it really counts.

12. Learning to Take Better Care of Yourself

It might seem like activism is all  about helping others, but if you don’t take care of yourself, you’ll burn out fast.

And as changemakers, we can struggle with the extra challenges that come along with paying attention to what’s happening in the world and the obstacles we face along the way trying to make a difference on them.

At YEA Camp, we do a whole Self Care activity where you’ll get to try out different ways of taking care of yourself, which is a super important life skill.

Whether it means getting enough sleep, maintaining healthy relationships, having positive self talk, managing your time better, feeling our feelings, developing healthy coping mechanisms, or not taking it personally when you don’t get the results you’re hoping for, it is up to each of us to take good care of ourselves so that we’re also able to make a difference for others.

13.  Developing an Action Plan for When You Get Home

By the end of our time together at YEA Camp, you will get to create an action plan for how you want to make a difference when you get home.

This action plan is not something you have to do, and in fact it will probably change once you get home and start taking action, but it will give you direction. Maybe your action plan is to start an environmental club at your high school, but when you get to school this fall you find out that there already is an environmental club. That’s actually great news! You can join that club and adjust your plan from there.

At camp, you’ll get to work in small groups with a staff member who has experience working on your IOI and with other campers who are just as passionate as you are about that issue. We’ll help you come up with SMART goals and teach you an important skill called backward-planning to set you up for success. We’ll also have you do some important time management techniques to consider your priorities and to be realistic while also making time for what matters most to you.

You can expect some amazing humans at YEA Camp!

14. Having a Community To Support You

Most people will make friends at a camp that they go to. That’s basic for what to expect.

But at YEA Camp you can expect to make even more meaningful friendships because of all our campers have in common and because of the depth of the activities we do at camp.

This is extra important for once camp ends. Of course we all want to have more friends, but having people who really understand what you’re trying to do to make a difference is even more important for changemakers at YEA Camp.

Of course, it’s up to each person to take the initiative to stay in touch after camp. But what you can expect is a community of people who will be rooting for you when things get challenging and cheering for you when you share a success.

15. Being Proud of Who You Are

One thing that has been heartbreaking to us over the years at the start of camp is to see how many of our campers have been bullied or made fun of for caring about making our world a better place.

It can be tempting to believe criticism from haters or people who don’t have the courage of their convictions, but that’s not who YEA Campers are.

You will leave YEA Camp proud of yourself for caring, for taking action, and for being someone actively working to be part of the solution instead of part of the problem.

What to Expect: A Life-Changing Camp for World-Changing Teens

This is really just scratching the surface, but we hope this helps you learn a little bit more about what to expect at YEA Camp!

As we celebrate our 15th year, we are always looking to improve and grow, and so we are hoping for the unexpected too!

If you want to learn more about YEA Camp, check out these testimonials from past campers, parents, and staff, read all the details on our website www.yeacamp.org, send us a message, or sign up here!

We hope to see you this summer and that YEA Camp is everything you expect and more.

The post What to Expect at YEA Camp appeared first on YEA Camp.

Given the continued uncertainty and risks of Covid, and how great Virtual YEA Camp was last  year, we felt good about our choice to hold YEA Camp virtually again — and it turned out great!

All in all, we held 4 sessions and had almost 100 campers. We had amazing guest speakers and inspiring activities, raised thousands of dollars for great causes, learned so much, strengthened our community, and saw huge growth in our campers.

It’s so hard to explain YEA Camp in a blog post. Yet, every year we try!

Here are some ways our campers said in their evaluation they would describe Virtual YEA Camp to a friend:

• a fun, empowering, and educating experience where you stepped outside of your comfort zone and made a difference.
• A great experience with absurdly nice people who show you easy but often ignored ways to make a difference.
• YEA Camp is a diverse, engaging, and social camp about activism that helps you raise money, make friends, and learn.
• I would describe it as a wonderful community experience where you get to learn about important issues in the world while also just having fun with the other campers!
• The Best Camp Ever

How Does Virtual YEA Camp Compare to In-Person YEA Camp?

It took months of about 20 past YEA Campers and staff having planning meetings to figure it out last year, but eventually, we came up with an exciting, dynamic schedule and curriculum to bring the best of what we do in-person into a virtual setting.

We asked fundamental questions, like “what makes a camp a camp if it’s remote?” And “what are the most important parts of YEA Camp that we need to find a way to do virtually?” And “how can we create a curriculum where people could join us for 1, 2, 3, or 4 sessions where each session could stand on its own?”

We also found ways to take advantage of the benefits of doing camp virtually, like being accessible to more campers, attracting amazing guest speakers, and working on activist projects together.

Virtual YEA Camp is a combination of:

• Workshops – similar to the activism training we do at in-person camps (learning about problems in the world and building skills and confidence to address them)
• Change the World (CTW) small groups – campers work on activist projects together (fundraising, advocacy, raising awareness) collaborating with other campers and a counselor passionate about the same cause
• Happy Hour – activities that are similar to what we do at camp during free time, and conducive to Zoom. Some we did this year were improv games, cooking classes,  yoga,  digital arts activism, and virtual visits to animal sanctuaries.
• Evening activities – similar to our in-person YEA Camp activities, like Show Off + Tell and the YEA Show, along with a game night, discussion night, and sharing action plans.

Did we mention that it was super fun?!

Playing activist trivia, a scavenger hunt, baking cookies, and just making friends was a blast. And our Pet Cuteness Contests were actually the cutest!

One of the most special parts of in-person YEA Camp is the love and sense of community. That’s where we knew doing the camp virtually could feel different. Surprising even to us, there was a lovefest at Virtual YEA Camp as well.

Here are some of the comments from the chat as we said our goodbyes on Friday.

• Stefani: THANKS SO MUCH EVERYONE!! I’ll never forget the memories and friends made during yea camp !!!!!
• Noelle: This was amazing! Don’t forget us all when you do great things for this world! 《3
• Dax: Thank you to all the counselors for teaching me and thank you to all my teammates for helping me and thank you to everyone!!!!!!
• Gigi: Thank you thank you thank you to everyone. You all inspire me so much
• Eliza: thank you so much everybody this past month was amazing
• Nicole:  Thank you. I will never forget this amazing experience.
• Jack: THANK every single one of you

We’re not crying! You’re crying! (And Jack’s crying!)

Our Incredible Speakers and Staff

We are so proud that all of our staff members and many of our guest speakers are not only incredible activists but are previous YEA Campers or staff members themselves who were able to bring their experience from in-person YEA Camp into the virtual setting.

One of the best parts about Virtual YEA Camp is the incredible, highly qualified staff and guest speakers who were able to join us who otherwise might not be able to be with us in-person, and that our staff was able to participate while juggling their busy activist lives! Like:

• Julia Clark, who, as the VP of the Black Student Movement at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill, was successfully campaigning to protest the scandal of the school declining tenure to Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones
• Rey Watson, who when not with us during virtual camp hours was doing activism on lots of different projects — working with their local Sunrise Hub to protest the PennEast Pipeline, protesting the animal abuse at SeaQuest, and rallying to pressure New Jersey’s governor to support a bill for clean jobs in their state
• Monica Carr, 4x YEA counselor who now lives in Guatemala and was able to join us on staff from another country, while other amazing staff members Alina de Zoysa, Liam-Davis-Bosch, Maya Diaz-Villalta, and Andina Aste-Nieto were able to juggle YEA Camp while busy preparing to go away to college for the first time, on vacation with family, having another part-time job, and/or managing other personal, family, and activist commitments.

And many of our amazing guest speakers would not have been able to attend YEA Camp in-person, like:

• Two former YEA Camp counselors who now have their PhDs in activist fields: Dr. Alice Ragland has a PhD in Multicultural and Equity Studies in Education, from Columbus, Ohio; and Dr. Abel Gomez, who recently completed his PhD and will be teaching in the department of Native American Studies at the University of Oklahoma. They would not have been able to join us in-person
• An incredible activist (name withheld) who has long Covid and has been sick for well over year. This person would have been on staff with us this year and last year if not for Covid. Doing YEA Camp virtually meant that they could be a guest speaker and contribute so much from home.
• Too many other people to list (or to leave out!) who have full-time jobs, families, or commitments that made in-person YEA Camp not possible for them to attend but who were able to join us this virtually summer.

You can see just some of our speakers here.

It’s amazing for our campers to get to learn from such outstanding activists!

YEA Camp Curriculum

YEA Camp’s curriculum has been developed and iterated over the course of more than a decade, and over the past year and a half, we’ve worked on adapting it to an online setting.

At in-person as well as at Virtual YEA Camp, our curriculum is focused on developing:

• knowledge – about problems in the world
• skills – to be able to dress them effectively
• confidence – to speak up and take action, and
• community – to know you’re not alone and have the support you need

These core areas were built into our curriculum at each of our 4 sessions:

• Becoming a Changemaker: building a foundation for what activism is, examining your identity, and finding ways to make a difference for a cause that you care about in a way that inspires you
• Understanding the Issues: learning more about major problems in the world — like racism, gender equality, climate change and animal cruelty — and how those issues connect to one another, and many more
• Skills to Make a Difference: developing core activism skills that can be applied to any cause or issue, like campaign planning, fundraising, communication skills, and publicity.
• Careers for Changemakers: seeing examples of so many different ways people are making a difference in their careers, from being a social entrepreneur to a therapist, an attorney to a PhD.

Each week, campers got to learn from amazing youth activists — former YEA Campers just a few years further along. Campers worked in small Change the World groups to work on different activist projects on their cause. In their groups, they did advocacy, launched fundraisers, and educated themselves and others on their issue of importance.

Camper Accomplishments

Ultimately, YEA Camp is all about what our campers accomplish after camp is over.

But with Virtual YEA Camp, our campers did activism during camp!

They made Activism Starter Guides to educate themselves and others about their cause, they raised thousands of dollars for the nonprofits of their choice, and they did advocacy to reach out to decision-makers to make a request for their cause.

We’re still calculating the accomplishments, but in our campers’ words, here are some of what they accomplished:

• I made new friends, helped raise money for a great cause, learned new things, jumped out of my comfort zone, and became more aware of society’s problems.
• I made a more realistic and achievable action plan and I also made a call to a state representative!
• Met a lot of amazing activists and mentors, and created an action plan for after camp.
• I learned so much about being an activist, and I got to plan for what comes next, and meet so many amazing people.
• I helped create a campaign guide for the Green New Deal!
• Called my congress representative and raised money for Greenpeace!
• I shared our fundraiser and got tons of my family involved and helped them to become more aware. We surpassed our fundraising goal!
• I pushed myself out of my comfort zone and it ended up being really fun.

And so much more!

What’s next

What’s next for our campers is changing the world! They all have action plans to make a difference on their cause, and now they have a community to cheer them on along the way.

What’s next for YEA Camp is very much up in the air! There is so much to decide on from here.

We’re going to celebrate our accomplishments and rest for a bit.

We’ll debrief the million things we did well and the million things we can do better.

We’re also going to be saying thank you, thank you, thank you to so many people. To our staff, guest speakers, campers, their families, donors, and everyone else who has supported YEA Camp along the way.

Thank you to you.

And then we will be considering so many possibilities for where YEA Camp could go from here. We have so many ideas of programs we could do online in addition to hopefully being able to hold YEA Camp in person again soon.

What ideas do you have for us? Would you like to be part of the decision-making process? Our community is wide, from past campers, staff, parents, donors, volunteers, and other supporters, and we’d love to hear your input as we continue to reinvent and reimagine the next incarnations of YEA Camp.

To stay up to date on what we’re up to, follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and on our email list.

Thanks again for all your support in making another successful YEA Camp summer possible!

The post Another Amazing YEA Camp Summer Training Young Activists Online appeared first on YEA Camp.

The great news is that we will be holding another summer of Virtual YEA Camp again this year! Our virtual camp was so fun and impactful last summer, we are thrilled to be able to hold it again this year!

We’ll have a lot of the same amazing guest teachers and activities that were camper favorites, as well as incorporate new workshops, speakers, and activities to change things up. It’s going to be amazing!

Virtual YEA Camp is for aspiring activists ages 10-17 who want to make a difference in the world, and we’re so looking forward to helping these inspiring changemakers make an even bigger impact on the social justice causes they care about. 

Send any young people you know who would love Virtual YEA Camp to YEACamp.org for details and to register! We always make financial aid available to those who need it.

You might have figured out the not-so-great news. We won’t be holding YEA Camp in person this summer.

While we of course love being together in person, there is still so much uncertainty about Covid to feel we can ensure everyone’s safety for an in-person overnight setting, plus Virtual YEA Camp was so great in 2020, we’re thrilled to be able to offer it again!

Why Virtual YEA Camp

We created Virtual YEA Camp in 2020 in response to the Covid pandemic after months of planning meetings with past campers and staff. We were proud to create an amazing program that offered much of the best of what we do at in-person YEA Camp while also incorporating new components that we could only do virtually, like collaborating on activist projects in real time and having guest speakers and campers who otherwise wouldn’t have been able to attend in person. Our campers accomplished great things and the program got rave reviews.

In the summer of 2021, while there is great room for optimism with the Covid vaccine being administered and a return to normalcy hopefully upon us soon, in a sense there is even more uncertainty this summer than last summer.

By summertime, it’s predicted that most adults in the US who want to be vaccinated will be able to be, though that is still to be seen in all 50 states. Of course, the rollout of the vaccines has been notoriously less accessible to those with less privilege and fewer resources. The possibility of new variants of Covid makes things more uncertain. In addition, about a third of people in the US don’t plan to get vaccinated, which could mean Covid will still be with us for a long time. Importantly for summer camps, there is still no approved vaccine yet for youth under 16. Vaccines for young people are just now entering clinical trials. While most young people aren’t affected as seriously as adults are, long-term effects of Covid are unknown. Young people can also still be carriers and transmit Covid to others.

Especially since so many of the campers and staff who attend YEA Camp typically come from out of state and even by plane to join us, we felt that the only way to ensure the safety of our community and the community at large given all the unknowns and risk factors still with us in 2021 was to hold YEA Camp virtually again.

As much as we love doing YEA Camp in-person, our virtual camps were so impactful and successful this summer and winter, which made it a much easier decision for us to hold YEA Camp virtually again.

Join us this summer!
We are offering 4 sessions of Virtual YEA Camp that each build upon one another but also stand on their own, so you can register for 1, 2, 3, or 4 sessions.

The themes and dates for each session are:

Becoming a Changemaker | July 12 – 16, 2021
Understanding the Issues | July 19 – 23, 2021
Skills to Make a Difference | July 26 – 30, 2021
Careers for Changemakers | Aug 2 – 6, 2021

YEA Camp’s curriculum focuses on developing knowledge, skills, confidence, and community. 

At each session, campers will:

• learn how to make a bigger difference in the world: from planning a campaign or a fundraiser to finding your voice and speaking up about the causes you believe in
• make friends who care as much as you do
• do activism together on a cause you care about
• have tons of fun!

Get $50 off if you register by April 1!

We are so excited for another summer of Virtual YEA Camp! We look forward to holding in-person sessions of YEA Camp again in the summer of 2022.

To learn more about YEA Camp or to sign up, go to www.YEACamp.org.

The post Virtual YEA Camp Trains Aspiring Activists to Make a Bigger Difference appeared first on YEA Camp.

Hello! My name is Phoenix Turner, and I am 12 years old. I went to the first ever virtual winter YEA Camp. 

My IOI was anti-racism. Through camp I was taught so many ways to be a better activist and changemaker. The workshops this week were not just factual, but also fun. This camp has been a great experience I could never forget (nor would I want to). I have made great friends at camp that I hope to stay in touch with. 

Not only am I very passionate about anti-racism, but I am passionate about LGBTQ+ equality, climate change, mental health and animal rights, with many more in between. I have been wanting to go vegetarian for a long time, but I haven’t had the courage to ask my parents to let me. Through camp and making friends who are already vegan and vegetarian, I gained the courage to ask my parents, and they said yes! 

YEA Camp has made such a big impact on my life, and it will for other young activists too. There are so many things to learn at camp to not only help you be a better activist but to help you through life. I would 10/10 recommend YEA Camp to changemakers. If you want to make a change in your world and community, come to YEA camp!

We absolutely loved having Phoenix and all of our amazing campers at our first-ever winter session of YEA Camp!  They’ve given us so much inspiration and lots of ideas for the future. We’re going to be developing more virtual programming, and we’d love to hear from you if you’re interested! You can reach out to us in the chat box or through our Contact page.  Follow us on Instagram or Facebook for all our latest updates!

The post Virtual Winter Camp Officially Gets a 10 Out of 10 Recommendation for Changemakers appeared first on YEA Camp.

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!

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