A core principle of our mission is to engage with the community beyond the UW-Milwaukee campus. We want to foster deeper connections with the world around us in Milwaukee and beyond. Youth in Action is always looking to meet new community members and set an example for what it means to be a global citizen. If you would like to be a part of our community, please submit a description of your organization or classroom on the Connections or Contact pages!
Half of our current cohort comes from Urban Underground. We are very grateful for the chance to partner in programming. Urban Underground is promoting the next generation of leaders committed to building safe and sustainable communities. They advance their mission through youth-led social justice campaigns in the areas of health, education, public safety, and juvenile justice reform.
The Iron Board Cafe from our first program is a creation of Erick Ledesma, the founder of Cosecha Creative Space. After Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico, Erick and his mother wanted a way to share food and information with their community. So they took an ironing board – the only table they had left– and set up a pop-up cafe. It gave them the chance to check in on their neighbors and find out who had water or who still did not have electricity. Thus the Iron Board Cafe was born. It has since become a way to foster creative place-making and connections in communities. We felt this was the perfect way for our students to share their message.
The Tandem restaurant serves down to earth food with fresh from earth ingredients. They believe in supporting the local community and providing training and work experience in the restaurant industry to young people in Milwaukee.
A breakfast and lunch cafe with a community art gallery and live classical music.
Arts @ Large activates Milwaukee’s communities to build environments that support arts-rich, lifelong learning. All K-12 Milwaukee students have equal access to an education that includes the arts. Milwaukee’s students, their families, and residents thrive in communities active with the arts.
Urban Ecology Center’s mission is to connect people in cities to nature and each other. Their vision is to inspire generations to build environmental curiosity, understanding, and respect. They restore hope and heal our urban natural world, neighborhood by neighborhood.