Partnerships
Our partners are extremely important and help YLI accomplish our goals.
Strong relationships with community partners are integral to YLI’s success. We partner in a variety of ways to ensure quality delivery of our youth leadership program, to support youth development professionals to do their best work, and to sustain our work into the future.
Program Partnerships
There are many ways we partner with community members and organizations. To support YLI’s programming, we recruit volunteers, interns and AmeriCorps members. YLI also does targeted recruitment efforts in cultural communities for volunteers to serve as cultural coaches. YLI has partnered with local schools, after-school clubs and cultural organizations to ensure diversity of recruitment and enrollment.
Examples of long-term partnerships:
YMCA Camp Widjiwagan provides a wilderness trip in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area each summer to the new YLI Youth Mentor team. This extended experience away from home has impacted the leadership experience of Youth Mentors by deepening their relationships, preparing them to be leaders during the YLI year, and building their teamwork skills. Youth Mentors return home with a greater sense of confidence navigating uncertain situations and getting outside of their comfort zone, stronger bonds with each other, deeper understanding of how to support each other and readiness to lead. An additional wonderful consequence of this unique experience is that they all gain an appreciation for the natural world that surrounds us and the land we live on, inspiring many to become stewards of the environment.
Local, cultural consultants facilitate cultural simulations –– Hmong Odyssey, Mexican Border Crossing, Underground Railroad, and 1862 Dakota Uprising –– each year during YLI’s immersive retreats where participants engage in a simulated experience to see the world through another lens; oftentimes, resulting in a greater sense of self-awareness of personal privilege or pride, and appreciation of the lived experience and resilience of different communities. These have truly been instrumental in supporting YLI’s mission and efforts by strengthening empathy through storytelling, acknowledging oppressive histories and systems, deepening connection to our common humanity, and fostering racial healing. YLI is proud to intentionally invest in BIPOC-led businesses and prioritize the narratives of BIPOC communities.
In partnership with Theater Mu, we are able to help young people learn about the power of theater as a means of sharing our stories and raising awareness about community issues. At weekly Action Team sessions, Theater Mu artists lead YLI youth in theater skill-building activities and creative sessions, helping them explore and take action on their chosen topics through theater. Youth have the opportunity to create, write, and perform original work with the assistance of Theater Mu teaching artists.
YLI is partnering with St. Paul Public Libraries to host weekly and monthly program sessions at Rondo Library from October - May.
YLI is also partnering with Boys and Girls Club Camp Voyageur Environmental Center in Mound, Minnesota for all of our overnight retreats.