why do we have youth jams?

The magnitude of today's environmental and social problems is growing faster than ever, but so is our unified response. We are a rapidly growing movement committed to reversing this crisis and living consciously and sustainably. The Jams help to connect the dots of this expanding movement.

Youth Jams are annual, week-long events that connect, support and inspire 30 committed young leaders under age 30 from 15-20 nations whose lives are dedicated to building a thriving, just and sustainable world for all.

The Youth Jams provides a healing and transformative context for community building, networking, rejuvenation and expanding the effectiveness of outstanding social change leaders.

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. The youth movement for a brighter future needs leaders that are empowered, confident and healthy. Many of today's young activists are over-worked and carry a great burden of responsibility for some pretty overwhelming global problems. Their stress often leads to compromised effectiveness and burn-out. Additionally, there is a serious lack of communication between youth activist groups. Some groups even find themselves in competition with each other. The potential for an effective unified response is severely compromised.

When young people from different cultures, different kinds of activism, and vastly different backgrounds with a common commitment for the future of our world meet, connect, and speak out, the result is nothing short of miraculous.

The Jams help build a multicultural youth movement for peace, justice and environmental sanity by connecting, serving and celebrating some of the world's leading young activists.

The Jams are a response to the increasing corporate globalization of our world and the need to build real bridges of solidarity between leading actors in the grass-roots, political, and business movements.

In a global village, we can no longer be reconciled to work in isolation. We need to bring together what's working in each of our own local areas of the world and share them with each other. We need leaders without borders who are committed to working powerfully within their own arenas and yet who have a clear understanding of, and connection to, the global context in which we live.

Our purpose is not to rally people together for governmental policies or programs or any one specific issue. Our chief objective is to find some of the world's most passionate, effective, persuasive and committed young people and help them to do what they are already doing even better.

These events are uniquely designed to empower youth who are in positions of influence and leadership throughout the world, youth who carry a passionate, life long commitment to creating a better world for all. The Jams help to create a deep and long-lasting support network -- a network based on friendship, deep listening, and common vision of a brighter future for all life on Earth.

The chief objective of the Jams is to help leading young activists do what they already do, even better.

These events are uniquely designed to empower youth who are in positions of influence and leadership throughout the world. The Jams help to create a deep and long-lasting support network -- a network based on friendship, excellent communication, and common vision of a brighter future for all life on Earth. The chief objective of the Jams is to help leading young activists do what they already do, even better.

By supporting what we believe are among the Mother Theresa’s, Mahatma Gandhi’s, and Martin Luther King’s of the 21st Century, our work is sending out vast ripples and empowering some of the people who will lead our world to a brighter future.