Youth Action Council (YAC) is a two-year partnership between Tulsa Changemakers and Hunger Free Oklahoma (HFO). Tulsa Changemakers recruits college fellows and matches them with a local nonprofit to lead Tulsa youth through a one-year leadership program. YAC members are high school-aged youth and meet twice a month to work on projects related to school meals. HFO provides transportation through Modus Tulsa and dinner each program evening.
YAC is an intergenerational approach to authentic youth engagement and we follow the Ladder of Youth Voice, adopted by Adam Fletcher. The lowest levels of the ladder represent programs with youth who are not able to make decisions on the projects they work on, the activities they do, and can appear to be in token roles. The highest levels of the ladder represent programs with youth who are leading projects, making decisions, practicing conflict resolution, and embodying a youth-driving atmosphere. We strive for youth/adult equity in our Youth Action Council program at Hunger Free Oklahoma.
Kianle Frazier joined YAC in its pilot year and continued this year. Kianle is a senior graduating from Memorial High School and shared his thoughts on how YAC impacted him:
“The YAC experience has been a valuable learning opportunity, allowing me to gain knowledge and professional growth. I have gained a better understanding of policy work in a non-profit organization by meeting different staff members and learning about their backgrounds and roles. The two-year experience has allowed me to develop ideas, plans, and take action after learning the history of why I’m advocating and the change I want to make. I have created projects to receive feedback and student input through surveys and to provide information through videos and leaflets. Additionally, I have had the opportunity to participate in community work, such as helping out at food banks, and expand my life through networking and making connections with people I meet through YAC.”
Kianle Frazier
YAC had an opportunity to attend Anti-Hunger Day at the Capitol after spending two years working on school meal policy projects. For some youth, it was their first time at the Capitol speaking to their legislators and others had more experience. It allowed for authentic peer coaching and leadership. Youth do have leadership skills and can learn from each other.
Isabella Mar, a 9th grader at Booker T. Washington, joined YAC this year and shared her experience at the Capitol this past April:
“Going to the Capitol was a neat and interesting experience. I liked seeing the people who worked so hard to provide free meals for people in need and for children. I find their work so incredibly respectable and truly honest of them to do. I enjoyed hearing their own expenses of growing up in rural areas and what hunger there might look like. This experience has brought an issue I had not really considered which was how rural schools dealt with hunger. It made my support for free meals for every child even stronger. I also enjoyed talking to my district representative Representative Goodwin and seeing some voting go down within the Senate and House chambers.”
Isabella Mar
Youth Action Council will begin accepting applications for the 2024-2025 school year beginning in September 2024. Follow Hunger Free Oklahoma for more information!
