By Mia Drumm This summer, I had the opportunity to attend Youth Empowered Action (YEA) Camp, also known as YEA Camp. I just want to start off by saying that this was a life-changing experience. Never in my life have I ever felt more free and accepted than when I was at YEA Camp. As someone…

By Liz Hixon I’d left Columbus, Ohio, for YEA Camp on the Saturday before check-in day on a nine-hour drive to Woodstock Farm Sanctuary in New York. I was screaming in excitement through my open windows on highway 90. Seriously. I was beyond energized for the week and my first time attending a summer camp,…

We were thrilled when, in honor of Gay Pride week, 2x YEA Camper Aine Violet Pipe wanted to share a post to remember and educate us about one of the most influential transgender activists in US history: 17-year-old Sylvia Rivera. From Stonewall to Breaking Down Walls: A Thank-you to Sylvia Rivera by Aine Violet Pipe…

In our 10 years of YEA Camp, we have been fortunate enough to have campers attend from a dozen(!) different countries — but none came from as far away as Charlotte Chambers, and she did it twice! Charlotte is a committed animal advocate and vegan, and she traveled all the way from Australia(!) at age…

Paula Orrego was a YEA Camper all the way back in 2011, but it’s kind of like she never left! Paula became a counselor in training (CIT) the next summer, when she turned 18, and she has stayed in touch with us ever since. She’s also been doing activism ever since! Paula even blogged for…

This week the massively popular digital media company Buzzfeed released a video about YEA Camp! Buzzfeed’s huge reach meant that the one-minute video got more than 15,000 views in its first hour of posting and over 75,000 views in the first 48 hours! If you click on the video below, your like, comment, or share will…

By Ananya Singh Happy Earth Day! Each year, as this time rolls around, people gather to celebrate the beauty of nature and our environment. It is the perfect time to learn more about the biggest environmental issues that we are facing and work on taking action! I’ve gone vegan, learned about climate change, joined organizations…

Former YEA Camper Noor Aldayeh has highlighted her passions for years on social media and has been a major advocate for mental health awareness. Her activism after camp has left us speechless and we can’t wait to see where her passion for social justice takes her! We are so excited to share Noor’s journey with…

Former YEA Camper Claire Tamburello has been impressing us since the beginning. As soon as she got home from camp 3 years ago, we saw her share one story after another on social media about all the activism she was doing at school and in her community. We were so blown away that we invited…

Like much of the country, we’ve been so inspired by the activism spearheaded by youth advocating for gun control since the tragic Parkland shooting. We were less surprised than most, though, because we see the activism young people do every day and their passion and ability to make a difference on the causes they care about.…