More Information on Youth Jams

"For me (Youth Jams are) the magical place (where we) take the magnifying glass of our collective vision, passion and strength, and with loving open acceptance, ignite into our highest potential. (It was) the first time in my life of activism that I had ever felt in a safe place."
- Julia Butterfly Hill, Founder, Circle of Life Foundation

Youth Jams are week-long events that connect, support and inspire groups of 30 committed young leaders (under age 30) whose lives are dedicated to building a thriving, just and sustainable world for all. They provide a healing and transformative context for community building, networking, rejuvenation and expanded effectiveness. Youth Jams embrace a holistic view of social change, believing with Gandhi that: "We must be the change we seek in the world." We look for participants who are growing and building positive change on three simultaneous levels: The internal (they are growing spiritually and personally); the interpersonal (they are seeking to bring love, integrity and honesty to their relationships); and the societal (they are building a world of justice, liberation, peace and sustainability). We believe that the personal and the public are connected, and as such these events synthesize the exploration of our personal lives and journeys with our collective work for a better world. They provide a space for participants to examine not only their work and commitments, but their beliefs, values, emotions, and modes of analysis - all in a community of trust that allows important insights and perspective to be gained.

Youth Jam participants are leaders in local, national or international organizations or movements working for social justice, human rights, peace and environmental sanity. We come together for a week to build bonds of community, understanding and trust between people and movements, to see the powerful connections between the diverse issues we work on (and their solutions!) and to gain support and skills for the work to which our lives are committed. Youth Jams help participants to re-connect with the inspiration and purpose behind the work that they do, to build bridges of solidarity and partnership across the lines of ethnicity, class, gender, geography, and area of focus, and to create a context where participants can meet and be affirmed on the deepest level of who they are.

Each Youth Jam has a theme, as YES! joins with partner organizations that have expertise in that arena. Other 2003 Youth Jams include the World Youth Jam (for young leaders from 20 nations), the Latin American Jam, and the African Diaspora Jam. All previous Youth Jams have been explicitly cross-class and cross-race. This is the first event of its kind, working with young leaders who are specifically coming from privileged contexts.