San Mateo Youth Advocates, launched in March of 2022 across San Mateo County, sparks positive change by identifying and addressing housing, health equity and voting challenges that youth face beyond school.
This year, Youth Advocates will be focusing on increasing civic engagement among youth. Their plan is to organize forums for youth to raise their voice on key issues affecting youth in North San Mateo County. The idea is to invite political figures, elected officials, and candidates to the forums to hear from youth, and to share their platforms. Ultimately, the forums will work to strengthen relationships between government bodies and young people, and encourage youth to play an active role in local government.
Last year, Youth Advocates led a research project to understand the quality of sex education and accessibility to health centers and resources across San Mateo County. They used this research to create a community map of health clinics serving young people. The map includes information on costs, services and transportation. They also produced a list of resources for sex health education.
Interested in Joining?
We are currently accepting new high school and college-age youth across San Mateo County who are interested in building a better community. We meet weekly via zoom on Wednesday at 5:00 PM.
If you are interested in joining our unique and diverse group of young leaders or to learn more about what we do and how we do it, reach out to Andrea Gil at [email protected] to learn more about stipends, volunteer hours and life skills.