The Heart of the Youth Leadership Conference
The Youth Planning Team is a group of committed high school aged students from across Maine who bring their individual knowledge and experiences to create a dynamic conference for emerging young leaders from around the state. They determine the design, theme and course of the entire conference.
What’s it All About?
Each year, our annual two-day Youth Leadership Conference brings together over 300 youth leaders, adult allies, and community members. It’s a space that promotes the creativity, culture, and wisdom of young people, showcasing youth-driven action and providing meaningful opportunities for young people and adults to learn from one another.
Members of the Youth Planning Team will discover a community of young people from all over Maine who are passionate about making change and uplifting the voices of their peers. The Team’s purpose is to build relationships, leadership, and organizing skills to create a Youth Leadership Conference that centers on youth voice and provides opportunities to meaningfully connect. Together, they will play a central role in the design and hosting of this incredible event!
What Will The YPT Do?
Over the course of 8-months, the Youth Planning Team will work collaboratively on multiple aspects of our 2-day Youth Leadership Conference: Identifying presenters, recruitment & outreach support, creating facilitation guides for “Home Teams,” and more. During the event, the YPT will take on many roles, such as speech writing, public speaking opportunities, photographing the event, dialogue sessions, hosting Podcast sessions and leading team-building activities.
What Will You Gain?
Not only will you connect with other inspiring young people, gain valuable planning, coordinating, and leadership experience, but you will get to say that you helped design an awesome conference for hundreds of people! As a part of the Youth Planning Team, you will leave with a host of new skills and the confidence to continue making lasting change. Also, money! We value your expertise and each member will receive a stipend of up to $300 for your work with us.
When are the meetings? What are the Requirements?
Each team member will be required to attend in person meetings from July until the Conference in November. These meetings will take place in-person, over the phone, and online:
- July 15th kick-off meeting
- August 12-13th overnight
- September 12th planning meeting, 2 zoom calls (dates TBA)
- October 10th and 24th planning meetings, 2 zoom calls (date TBA)
- November 4-6th or November 11-13th for our conference
- Frequent email/WhatsApp communication with team members and MYAN staff
- After the conference: Participate in one wrap-up meeting to celebrate and debrief your experience as a YPT Member!
Ask for help with work from your teammates and MYAN staff if you need it!
Applications for the 2020 Youth Planning Team are Currently Closed
We’re looking through applications and are excited to announce this year’s YPT members in the weeks to come! Follow us on social media to stay up to date on the latest news about the 2020 conference!
