Youth Steering Committee: A Leadership Development Program of the Young Women's Health & Leadership Summit

Program Description
The Youth Steering Committee (YSC) is based on a positive youth development approach, emphasizing the strengths and assets of young women. The YSC is designed to be a safe and open place where young women can come together to share their thoughts and ideas, develop self-confidence, and build leadership skills by working as a team to develop a variety of projects for their peers, including the Young Women's Health & Leadership Summit. The role of the Youth Steering Committee member is to provide expert advice and insight in the area of young women’s health to the UCSF National Center of Excellence in Women’s Health. This also includes the development of a Young Women’s Health & Leadership Summit. The YSC are treated as consultants and paid for their participation.

2012–13 Youth Steering Committee
UCSF National Center of Excellence in Women's Health Youth Steering Committee 2009-10

The secret of the Young Women’s Health & Leadership Summit is the involvement of young women in planning the important details of each summit. The summit is unique in that it is designed by and for young women.

Over several months the YSC meets to participate in a curriculum focused on health promotion and leadership including topics such as environmental health, dating violence, reproductive health and access to health care services, depression and mental health, skill building for youth leaders and career development information.

The YSC decides the theme, nominates keynote speakers, recommends local organizations to present at the summit, and identifies the most important issues to be addressed during the workshop sessions.

Historically, the themes of the summits express the YSC goals for their peers for whom they are planning the summit and have included 1) "Healthy Hearts, Healthy Lives, Young Women on the Rise’, 2) "Rejoice, Unite, Nurture, Fight", 3) "Be Strong, Be Heard, Be You,", 4) "We inspire, We act, We're Young Women - Step Back!”, 5) "A Day to Inspire A Lifetime: Strong, Proud, United" , and 6) “Beyond Looks, Beyond Words: Stand Up, Speak Out” . 7) The 2009 Young Women's Health & Leadership Summit’s theme was: "Struggle, Strive, Succeed: Bring Out the Somethin’ in You!" 8) The 2010 Young Women's Health & Leadership Summit's theme was: "Unleashing Our Potential: Reaching for the Stars!" 9) The 2011 Young Women's Health & Leadership Summit's theme was "Women in the Mirror: Kindle Your Fire: Dream & Inspire!" 10) The 2012 Young Women's Health & Leadership Summit's theme was "Be the U in Beautiful. Unique & United, We Create Real Beauty."

Program Components

YSC meetings (weekly for 8 months).
Active participation in the implementation of summit.
Preparation prior to meetings and reflection after meetings.

Compensation
Young women are paid $10.55/hour for their participation in this program.

Time Commitment
The Youth Steering Committee meets weekly (for two hours after school) and also meets once a month on Saturday (for three hours), over the course of eight months.

Download the brochure here.

Download the 2013-2014 application here.

Application Process
Download the application above, and send completed application by e-mail to Judy Young at youngj@obgyn.ucsf.edu by 5PM on Monday, June 3, 2013

Eligibility
Students must be enrolled in a San Francisco Unified high school (public or charter) for the 2013 - 2014 school year in order to be eligible to participate.

Selection Process
Applications are screened by a committee. Some applications will be advanced for interviews.

For more information on the Youth Steering Committee, contact Judy Young at youngj@obgyn.ucsf.ed at the UCSF National Center of Excellence in Women’s Health.

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Youth Steering Committee: A Leadership Development Program of the Young Women's Health & Leadership Summit