Youth Leadership & Advocacy Program

The 2026 Interest Form is now open. Please scroll down further to find the application form. If you have trouble viewing the form, you can find the direct link here. Applications are due by 5 p.m. on December 19, 2025.

Are you a youth of color (grades 9-12) looking for a paid opportunity to develop your leadership capacity, learn about education advocacy, and help make decisions about how to allocate funds towards education-related causes you care about? You’ll connect with others like yourself and learn how to turn your passion for social and racial justice into real-world solutions through deep learning sessions with local experts and mentors. At the end of these sessions, you’ll work together to create and distribute funds that support education-related causes you value.

Students are often the target for funding decisions but rarely have a democratic say in how funding allocations or decisions are made. YLAP seeks to flip these power dynamics by creating a framework for students, and especially students of color in SE Seattle, to make funding decisions and support their leadership and advocacy in the education realm.

Using a cohort approach, the Youth Leadership and Advocacy Program is designed to engage students through a mix of speakers and collaborative learning to understand local education policy and advocacy through a racial equity lens, ways to effectively advocate, and ultimately strengthen their self-advocacy skills and their ability to disrupt current practices that exclude them from school-based and community-based decision-making altogether.

Participants meet regularly throughout the school year from February to May, where they receive supportive training and mentoring in the areas of local education policy, social justice-focused philanthropy, and advocacy skills development. At the end of each cohort, youth participants collaboratively allocate grant funding to support youth and education-related causes that they value.

If you have any questions or concerns before applying, feel free to reach out to [email protected] to discuss whether the program is a fit for you.

This program is designed for:

Southeast Seattle-based youth of color grades 9-12 who attend high school at Interagency, Franklin, Cleveland, Rainier Beach, or Rainier Valley Leadership Academy who are interested in developing their leadership capacity and education advocacy skills, learning about philanthropy as a powerful tool for social justice, and meeting new people. This is a PAID opportunity ($25/hr).

Next scheduled program:

Participants will meet 2-3 times a month on Saturdays from February to May 2025. The exact time will depend on what works best for applicants/participants and will work around SPS breaks. This will be confirmed via email when acceptances are sent out.

The sessions will be at the SESEC office in El Centro De La Raza (2524 16th Ave South, Suite #306 Seattle, WA 98144). Our location is served by light rail and Metro bus routes 36, 60 and 107.

Interest Form: Deadline is 5 p.m. on Dec 19.