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Youth Action Coalition (YAC) began in 1988 as Hampshire
Youth 2000 Coalition, a prevention-based youth leadership
organization. The early years saw the creation of intergenerational
projects, substance abuse prevention programs, a youth-run
newspaper and community service learning projects. In the
mid-90's, under the leadership of our new Executive Director,
we shifted our strategy to a more proactive approach using
the arts to empower youth to speak out and take action on
important issues. In this context we developed GirlsEyeView
(1997), Get Up Get
Down (2000) and Video
Vanguards (2003).
YAC programs are offered to middle and high school-aged
youth in Ware, Amherst and the surrounding towns. We work
with youth from a wide array of social circumstances, and
reach out particularly to youth who are marginalized due
to their experiences with race, class, gender and sexual
orientation oppression, as well as allies who face other
forms of marginalization and actively want to work with
a diverse group of youth for a common cause.
Our work is powerful and effective in part due to our small
group sizes (8-20), and each year approximately 60-80 young
people enroll in our programs. Yet the effects are far-reaching
—with exhibitions, screenings, festivals, and other
actions, our youth participants are reaching hundreds of
citizens annually— putting their voices and visions
out to the community, and building a youth movement for
social change through the arts.
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