The Youth Coalition Board joined together once again last weekend (April 26th-27th) in Camp Hill. We saw some new faces in the mix, as well as some long standing members. There were youth present from several counties including Dauphin, Erie, Allegheny, Greene, Luzerne, Cumberland, Philadelphia, Montgomery, McKean, Clinton, and York. The event was facilitated by two highly skilled and energetic individuals, Ieshia Nelson and Nick Palazzolo from the Temple Collaborative. They did a wonderful job of keeping everyone engaged and making sure the event was a success!

Discussion topics:
• Identifying skills and strengths members bring to the group
• Reviewing available resources throughout different counties
• Improving youth participation at County Leadership Team meetings
• Developing community outreach strategies.

The youth got a chance to put on their super hero capes and explore the "Superpowers of Youth" in an activity lead by Nick. We also spent some time laying the ground work for the Youth Coalition Board by exploring our principal belief of "equal voice and partnership" and how we plan to implement that throughout Pennsylvania. As the weekend came to a close, we had a room full of youth who smelled like Play-Dough and may have had a little too much chocolate, but were all super excited to put on their advocacy hats and make a difference in their communities! The Youth Coalition Board will meet again on June 22nd in State College to discuss our next steps.

Amber Myers
Youth Involvement Specialist