Youth in Action is empowering and inspiring young people in Milwaukee in collaboration with UW-Milwaukee’s Institute of World Affairs (IWA) and TRIO & PreCollege’s Quest Project to create positive change that aligns with the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)! Youth in Action wishes to give our future leaders the platform and resources to advocate for issues that impact us here in Milwaukee and beyond. By pairing their passion about local issues and the SDGs, we seek to engage with a global community. As Youth in Action develops, we will continue to collaborate with local and global organizations to empower our students to be advocates for the global goals. Community engagement is a core principle here and we hope to grow our outreach and advocacy to make impactful change in Milwaukee.
¡Youth in Action se trata de empoderar e inspirar a los jóvenes en Milwaukee en colaboración con el Instituto de Asuntos Mundiales de UW-Milwaukee (IWA) y el Proyecto Quest de TRIO & PreCollege para crear un cambio positivo que se alinee con los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible (ODS) de las Naciones Unidas! A medida que se desarrolla Youth in Action, continuaremos collaborar con organizaciones locales y mundiales para capacitar nuestros estudiantes por que sean defensores de los ODS. La participación de la comunidad es un principio fundamental aquí y esperamos aumentar nuestro alcance y defensa para lograr un cambio impactante en Milwaukee y más allá. Para más información en español, visite nuestra página de contacto y envíenos un mensaje.
This initiative started in the summer of 2019 with 16 youth influencers and a goal to educate them on the UN Sustainable Development Goals and how within their communities, they can make a difference. The week was spent researching, visiting different offices around the UWM campus, local organizations, and restaurants to learn about changemakers in their community. At the end of the week, each student created a poster about the SDG they were passionate about to present at our Iron Board Cafe. Our students spoke on how individuals can take part, local organizations to connect with, and what they would like to see done by the city of Milwaukee. Community members came to hear what our students had to say and learn more about our program.
After the first program, we partnered with Urban Underground and met with 16 new students for a three-part series on what makes a global leader, Human Rights, and the SDGs. Empowering youth actors to see themselves as leaders, locally and globally, we brainstormed the characteristics that the students saw in themselves and how to build their leadership identity. This group also picked SDGs they were passionate about and presented their quilt square designs, which you can see on our blog!
As Youth in Action develops, we plan on even more future collaborations with local organizations and empowering our students to be their own advocates. Community engagement is a core principle here and we hope to grow our outreach and advocacy to make impactful change in Milwaukee. If you would like to join or learn more, check out our collaborations and contacts page!
