The YSA Youth Venture Program

Washington, United States
Staff Contact: athomas

Contact region through YV or Join Now

About Us

The Youth Service America-Youth Venture Program is a joint partnership between Youth Service America and Youth Venture, Inc.

IMPORTANT: Starting FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 16th 2007 Maha will no longer be the contact for YSA Youth Venture teams. The new contact is Aimee Thomas. She can be reached via email at athomas@youthventure.org.

Make Every Day Global Youth Service Day with The YSA Youth Venture Program!

The YSA Youth Venture Program accepts applications from young people nationwide who are interested in starting their own sustainable social Ventures. Examples of possible Ventures include:

A youth center designed to keep youth out of trouble with music and art programs.

An anti-peer pressure education campaign.

A bike repair shop with a vocational training program.

An assembly program touring inner city schools combining music with an anti-drug/violence performances.

Ventures MUST be youth-led and designed to be a lasting, sustainable asset to the community. YSA Youth Venture teams are required to plan a Global Youth Service Day project every year that their Venture is operational. The YSA Youth Venture Program provides a variety of resources including: a national network of like-minded young people, media opportunities, technical support, helpful toolkits and workshops as well as seed money funding of up to $1,000 for start-up expenses.

Program History

The YSA Youth Venture Program began during spring of 2004. After completing a successful first year, the program quickly began launching more teams and is now one of Youth Venture’s strongest partnerships. What distinguishes YSA Youth Venturers are requirements to make a special effort of engage the media, public officials and youth that are not traditionally asked to serve (youth with disabilities, youth from low-wealth communities, etc.). This allows YSA Youth Venturers to see the larger impact and change that their Venture can create.

Each organization contributes numerous strengths in order to make the program successful. Youth Service America brings to Youth Venture its broad resources, expertise in the service field and its premier program, Global Youth Service Day, the largest day of service in the world. In turn, Youth Venture provides YSA a youth social entrepreneurship model that emphasizes sustainability, which allows youth to create sustainable projects for Global Youth Service Day (GYSD), thereby making everyday GYSD. Youth Venture also stresses that youth must lead and manage Ventures, which reinforces the principles of YSA’s Youth Voice Initiative.

By utilizing the best of both organizations, the YSA Youth Venture Program strives to create a unique opportunity for young people to engage in service and develop as young social entrepreneurs, and to become changemakers in their communities.

Resources and Tools

Frequently Asked Questions

Developing Ideas to Create Community Benefit

Zeroing In on Your Venture Idea

Researching the Market & Your Competition

Name Your Venture

Global Youth Service Day

Accessing a Computer and the Internet

YSA Youth Venture 3 Month Self Evaluation

YSA Youth Venture 12 Month Self Evaluation

YSA Youth Venture Legal Documents