120 Low-Income Illinois Youth Gather for YouthBuild Leadership Meeting in Rockford, IL

On May 21 at YouthBuild Rockford, YouthBuild USA’s National Alumni Council, in collaboration with the Graduate Leadership Department at YouthBuild USA, hosted “Tomorrow’s Leaders Today,” a regional gathering for YouthBuild students throughout Illinois. It was a day of leadership training and personal development for YouthBuild students and graduates.

During the conference, 120 students from YouthBuild programs across the state met members of the National Alumni Council. They participated in workshops on topics including Healthy Relationships, Diversity and Identity, Mapping Your Future, Small Business Development, and YouthBuild 101. Students also listenedo a graduate panel discussion entitled “Life After YouthBuild,” and to a keynote address given by a graduate.

This was the fourth “Tomorrow’s Leaders Today” Regional Gathering. The first took place in August 2009 in Newark, N.J., where 15 current YouthBuild students participated. Since then, National Alumni Council Members have hosted gatherings in Columbus, Ohio, for 90 students and in Fall River, Mass, for 150 students. YouthBuild USA and the National Alumni Council sponsor these events, providing facilitators, trainings and materials, and local sites provide meeting spaces and refreshments.
These gatherings connect students to the national movement, and encourage them to continue setting new goals for themselves after they graduate from their programs. Principal Derek Steward of YouthBuild Columbus Community School praised the program: “As a result of the NAC conference hosted by YouthBuild Columbus, the students of YouthBuild Columbus were able to see, firsthand, the success of other students just like them. They were able to see that former YouthBuild students were able to overcome some of the same obstacles that they too experience and become successful.”