Young People In Action International

Young People In Action International (YPA) is a 501 C3 non-profit youth leadership organization, which was founded on February 10, 1984, by a 17-year homeless teenager, in the driving park community on the south-east side of Columbus, Ohio. YPA’s concept directly impacts, what the prevention, intervention, education, and juvenile justice hierarchy systems feel are the causes of at-risk behavior among young people. Unfortunately, yet typically, when society talks about our youth, we too often use negative terms about what we would like them to stop doing. For example, we want them to stop using drugs & alcohol, stop dropping out of school, stop having sex & getting pregnant, and stop being violent & committing crimes. In short, we would like them to stop having problems and stop being problems. However, when we focus only on youth problems, we may begin to think of youth only as problems. We all want to reduce risk factors, but if that is all our community programs do, we assume that the absence of risky behaviors automatically assures positive growth, and that is a risky proposition. We sometimes think that we can provide youth with leadership development type of activities only after we have eliminated their problems through prevention or “fixed” their problems through treatment. That is a mistake! In fact, thinking that treatment and prevention must precede leadership development can be most damaging to so-called “at-risk” youth who may need these programs the most. We prioritize treating and reducing risk factors for “at risk” youth because we know their problems are the most serious. Youth from inner-city, lower-income families need to have the same needs met and acquire the same competencies as their peers from suburban and upper-income neighborhoods. When needs are not met and competencies are not acquired, all young people, no matter where they come from, are “at risk.

The mission of YPA is to create a sustainable leadership movement of young people, who are committed to self-improvement & cultivating the leader within, through the development of Spiritual; Social; Educational; Economic and Political competencies.