In my work with youth, I hope to provide necessary tools and ideas to help facilitate their goals. Young people have the ability to change the world around them with empowerment, guidance, and support from community members and those around them. I’m most passionate about supporting young people’s decisions. I want young people to know that when they make a goal or decision surrounding their life, they should be supported in it. Bettering yourself is cool, empowerment is cool, and social justice is cool. Young people inspire me every day to dream more, be more, and achieve more in my life. They help me set goals and accomplish them just as much as I help them do the same.

While working with young people in Maine I want them to know that they have a voice, and they are a part of their community. I want young people to know that they are always a part of the community and are a vital asset. Young people are going to change the world and are going to help make huge decisions in the present, and in the future. I see young people becoming more involved in community and state decisions. The part of my job that I enjoy the most is seeing a young person go outside of their comfort area and strive when they take a chance. Working with young people has inspired me to have involvement from all parties when making decisions. Getting insight from young people when a decision is going to be made. Young people are truly amazing and doing this work has shown me that their potential is limitless!

I feel privileged being able to work with young people for a multitude of reasons. Young people are inspiring, knowledgeable, and play a fundamental role in our societies. They are also faced with an array of pressures that impact their health holistically. Adolescence is a crucial time to learn and practice skills that aid in leading enriched lives.

I hear and see our youth in Maine. I once was one of them. They are observant, smart, resilient, and determined. I am their ally. I strive to use my power and my voice to support them. I want them to feel powerful, to belong, to feel smart, to feel heard. Youth with power and voice become young adults with power and voice. We need more of them. All of them.

Youth Development has been the most expansive field I have ever worked in. So often in adult life, we can get lost in the weeds of complex details, but the simplicity and imagination that youth bring to the table every time they are faced with a topic or problem has brightened even my most stressful days, and has been a constant inspiration. Acknowledging that I learn as much from them as they do from me, I hope to encourage and reflect my youth and be an example of how to carry that authentic, and sometimes outrageous, beginner’s mind with them through all stages of life.

I am most passionate about building strong lasting relationships with young people because young people are the most impactful people in the community who deserve to have safe spaces where their voices can be heard. It is most important to me to break to stigma around marginlized youth so that adults and young people can have constructive, meaningful conversations that lead to bettering the community.

My mission is to inspire and empower young people to improve their lives and the lives of those in their community. Through supporting youth in finding their passions, strengths, creative abilities, and reconnecting with their culture, they naturally become their most authentic selves. When young people are free and confident with who they are, they inspire others to do the same. We do this through connecting youth from within their own community, as well as from a variety of other areas. It is one of the highlights of the work I do. During the times of interconnection, we provide culturally relevant workshops, activities, and space for them to explore who they are and what they stand for. Connecting youth with each other, as well as with their communities, is powerful and truly inspiring!

The work of young people inspires me because they have a wide range of ideas and beliefs that they are passionate about, and seeing their faces light up with excitement and enthusiasm to discuss/create a positive change in their communities motivates me to become a better version of myself. Watching them take on leadership roles, advocate for what they believe in, and seeing that passion is truly remarkable.

To show youth that they have a voice and their opinions matter. My hope is this will instill the confidence to succeed in anything that they put their minds to in the future.