https://www.yayanetwork.org/blog daily 0.75 2025-02-21 https://www.yayanetwork.org/blog/blog-post-title-four-jx2ld-paz9j monthly 0.5 2022-03-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ff763ffe6d1fd0b6dfd5a23/1616868333008-QJYP21ID9J9GDEPU1YX0/Dianne+Durnham.jpeg Blog - Motivational Monday, The People of our History https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ff763ffe6d1fd0b6dfd5a23/1616800530475-UQKAW3JPJO9CH5T87172/Eunice+Hunton+Carter.jpeg Blog - Motivational Monday, The People of our History https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ff763ffe6d1fd0b6dfd5a23/1616868907776-B8TL8IEV28NRAXH8UXBZ/WalterRodney.jpeg Blog - Motivational Monday, The People of our History https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ff763ffe6d1fd0b6dfd5a23/1616870033980-36EW1SDN2Z71JMM6LV1F/Walter+Rodney+in+stripes+with+typewriter.jpeg Blog - Motivational Monday, The People of our History https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ff763ffe6d1fd0b6dfd5a23/1616870697246-MT3CJ5GX7NJPC7QTUWSN/Screen+Shot+2021-03-27+at+2.44.24+PM.png Blog - Motivational Monday, The People of our History https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ff763ffe6d1fd0b6dfd5a23/1616871184858-D6IJKK3SCC1SWNBPL8FW/Mary_Eliza_Mahoney.jpeg Blog - Motivational Monday, The People of our History https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ff763ffe6d1fd0b6dfd5a23/1616871881920-8HA8FXQ868QKHLYVBB2H/Madonna+Thunder+Hawk.jpeg Blog - Motivational Monday, The People of our History https://www.yayanetwork.org/blog/blog-post-title-two-6gt66 monthly 0.5 2022-03-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ff763ffe6d1fd0b6dfd5a23/1616797567682-2TDR8PE2TY5CDCR374I8/Yaya_Rally_06_18_20-56.jpg Blog - Op-Ed: Schools Aren’t Safe Now and They Weren’t Safe Before Photo by Emma Kazaryan https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ff763ffe6d1fd0b6dfd5a23/1616797867162-9FAV71GRC86KKUP06EW1/Yaya_Rally_06_18_20-5+%281%29.jpg Blog - Op-Ed: Schools Aren’t Safe Now and They Weren’t Safe Before Photo by Emma Kazarya https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ff763ffe6d1fd0b6dfd5a23/1616798463436-A3VJBN9XN5Z6WPUI8LSW/9+%282%29.jpg Blog - Op-Ed: Schools Aren’t Safe Now and They Weren’t Safe Before Photo by Elise Jayakar https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ff763ffe6d1fd0b6dfd5a23/1616798131051-ZXLBNIIACNMQV2JDNPDV/Copy+of+XE4C5030.JPG Blog - Op-Ed: Schools Aren’t Safe Now and They Weren’t Safe Before Photo by Elise Jayakar https://www.yayanetwork.org/blog/blog-post-title-one-fhrmm monthly 0.5 2021-03-29 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ff763ffe6d1fd0b6dfd5a23/1616191853660-F3AE1AVK7SUXXI3YJBIL/Image+2-26-21+at+4.42+PM.jpg Blog - Two Years of Leadership "Do we want to traumatize our kids?" Gillian speaks at the Panel for Educational Policy, in February 2020 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ff763ffe6d1fd0b6dfd5a23/1616191943072-8QCVHZ7JX009HLAR57RV/Gillian+Speaks+at+PEP+2019.jpeg Blog - Two Years of Leadership Gillian at the Panel for Educational Policy in 2019 https://www.yayanetwork.org/blog/blog-post-title-three-tft4s monthly 0.5 2021-03-29 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ff763ffe6d1fd0b6dfd5a23/1616799533502-8PE97ZY35ENLBZH46CIP/unnamed+%282%29.png Blog - Youth Activists Push for Police Accountability Amirat and panel members speak on the importance of having an Elected Civilian Review Board, March 7, 2020 Photo by Divine Ndombo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ff763ffe6d1fd0b6dfd5a23/1617030782991-HCDA5OTUMAQT0QHHI55O/Amirat+and+Inez+Barron.jpeg Blog - Youth Activists Push for Police Accountability Amirat with Inez Barron on ECRB campaign panel, March 7 2020 Photo by Jacquelin Woo https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ff763ffe6d1fd0b6dfd5a23/1616799182150-VS735KP0P4FJULZ472BQ/unnamed+%282%29.jpg Blog - Youth Activists Push for Police Accountability https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ff763ffe6d1fd0b6dfd5a23/1617030669223-IJ6GCJU5LS3MNMQ0TK21/INEZ-BARRON-2-re-1024x683.jpeg Blog - Youth Activists Push for Police Accountability Inez Barron campaigns for an Elected Civilian Review Board, March 25, 2021 Photo by Dean Moses https://www.yayanetwork.org/home daily 1.0 2025-10-09 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ff763ffe6d1fd0b6dfd5a23/1616022932753-HY30NE0HIAHSBW2TC0HQ/IMG_4385.jpeg Home - We take action. At YA-YA, we prepare young people to take their place as leaders in the fight for social and economic justice. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ff763ffe6d1fd0b6dfd5a23/1616021322762-NKN9DPG7OKD6EKQIMY4U/NYC+Student+Sabida+Ramsaran.jpeg Home - We empower. YA-YAs gain the skills, confidence and experience to make their voices heard. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ff763ffe6d1fd0b6dfd5a23/1616021935295-IXC9ZPK29ETCWZLHFDGU/XE4C5101.jpeg Home - We educate. YA-YAs collaborate with peers, practice leadership skills, share lessons learned, build community and work together to build a more just world. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ff763ffe6d1fd0b6dfd5a23/1616020235699-VS1JOJRHD3F623LDL43L/IMG_0128.jpeg Home - We show up. For our causes. For our allies. For our communities. For each other. https://www.yayanetwork.org/programs daily 0.75 2025-08-20 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ff763ffe6d1fd0b6dfd5a23/1610053115464-TE9ZWIDLOTQ202S0D9RZ/Aro+Ha_0073.jpg All Youth Programs - YA-YA SQAUD The YA-YA Squad is a collective of young people who make up the general YA-YA Network membership. As a member, you gain access to monthly events and workshops, and you can attend and participate in various direct actions or advocacy calls throughout the year. For example, if YA-YA Network is seeking more members to provide testimony at a city council hearing to advocate for more funding for restorative justice, we will call on you, train you, and have you be a part of that effort. YA-YA Squad offers a low-stakes way to be part of the community. Young folks who have participated in previous programs are automatically part of Squad. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ff763ffe6d1fd0b6dfd5a23/1610052884151-UASLIC4KIYWX3MBPMAC2/Divine+Edited.jpg All Youth Programs - The Empower Fellowship Learn how to unpack identity, deconstruct implicit biases, and make space not only for yourself but others within and outside of your community. In this fellowship, youth ages (15-19) will engage in a variety of workshops rooted in popular education, with a specific focus on identity development, self-esteem and confidence-building, advocacy, allyship, and leadership training. Empower meets in-person weekly for 18 weeks. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ff763ffe6d1fd0b6dfd5a23/46b16722-8073-4dd4-814b-524832e82b80/Screen+Shot+2022-02-14+at+3.50.06+PM.png All Youth Programs - Action Committee Our core student activists fighting to abolish police and metal detectors in schools. Learn the fundamentals of organizing, improve your public speaking skills, participate in direct actions, and learn how to push for press coverage and policy recommendations that further our fight against the school-to-prison pipeline. AC members will receive a monthly stipend of $100. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ff763ffe6d1fd0b6dfd5a23/1614031855290-JNGM3M7R44HGWALDU2KG/IMG_20200815_153842.jpg All Youth Programs - Summer Social Justice Institute The YA-YA Summer Institute is a radical learning experience founded in the belief that young people, in their collective power, will rise up and address issues impacting their communities. Through peer mentoring and popular education, we spend 7 weeks sharing empowerment and unlearning oppressive ideas and practices. We also visit community spaces around the city to witness revolutionary work in action and get involved in NYC activism. Youth emerge from Summer with basic skills in anti-oppression and activism. Most importantly, they join a community of youth activists to lead visions of change that transform their communities and world. https://www.yayanetwork.org/contact daily 0.75 2025-03-26 https://www.yayanetwork.org/mission daily 0.75 2025-10-31 https://www.yayanetwork.org/empower daily 0.75 2025-08-20 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ff763ffe6d1fd0b6dfd5a23/1616190805870-DFPPWV62IUH9G9ER4D1X/IMG_0316%2B%25281%2529.jpg Empower Fellowship - What do we do? Empower focuses on identity/leadership development, as well as building our knowledge and practice in solidarity work. We acknowledge in the work we do to address and deconstruct our biases, personal narratives, and our understandings of power, privilege, and oppression, that we must learn not only how to make space for ourselves and for our communities, but understand our participation in the systems that oppress those that endure what we do not. We acknowledge the power in advocating for ourselves while also recognizing our individual impact and value within our communities and the importance of our active advocacy and solidarity for those outside our communities. We do this all, understanding that this growth rests beyond our comfort zones. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ff763ffe6d1fd0b6dfd5a23/1610651432337-9YVUCVT4VWG83RVS1MR1/IMG_5200.jpg Empower Fellowship - Who Joins the Empower Fellowship? This Empower Fellowship is for those who are interested in beginning their journeys of unlearning internalized messages about themselves and their communities, and it is for those interested in expanding their knowledge, understanding, and advocacy of groups outside their communities and identities. It is for those interested in breaking down their barriers and becoming leaders. Those that join the Empower Fellowship are open-minded, critical and self-reflective, curious, community-orientated and interested in social justice, excited to use what they learn about themselves and about others to begin organizing, and willing to push themselves into what we call their “learning zones”, even if it means becoming uncomfortable and engaging with concepts you have never engaged with before. Ultimately, having a background in social justice and organizing is not the most important thing, your willingness to learn and advocate for others is. As with all our programs, the Empower Fellowship serves youth from the ages of 15-19 https://www.yayanetwork.org/board daily 0.75 2024-02-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ff763ffe6d1fd0b6dfd5a23/1629385171287-B7RJMBLTCB6M6XB53HMY/Screen+Shot+2021-08-19+at+10.58.22+AM.png Board https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ff763ffe6d1fd0b6dfd5a23/4afb809b-6d70-4a6c-a77a-3a08c6be06f5/Untitled+design.png Board https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ff763ffe6d1fd0b6dfd5a23/1616095029482-YU73HOW8XW85IJX949LO/Don%2527s%2BBoard%2BPhoto%2Bfor%2BWebsite.jpg Board https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ff763ffe6d1fd0b6dfd5a23/a3653cb5-a272-4caa-8adb-7104663e659e/Untitled+design.png Board https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ff763ffe6d1fd0b6dfd5a23/45592123-19bd-4b11-91de-b78d0fc25d22/Untitled+design+%281%29.png Board https://www.yayanetwork.org/staff daily 0.75 2025-02-21 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ff763ffe6d1fd0b6dfd5a23/017d5890-efaa-4b0c-acd0-bc8f82964787/amy_five.jpg Executive Team https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ff763ffe6d1fd0b6dfd5a23/6ce57a84-2514-44db-82cf-041eabde7413/IMG_1669.jpg Executive Team - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.yayanetwork.org/action daily 0.75 2025-08-20 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ff763ffe6d1fd0b6dfd5a23/aa2a531e-8377-4b1a-adf9-f5b955dcbb08/Olimide-FB.png Action Committee https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ff763ffe6d1fd0b6dfd5a23/57b3c054-4f1f-497d-b0db-9cf544eb5e07/Elizabeth-FB.png Action Committee https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ff763ffe6d1fd0b6dfd5a23/23f62a0b-be0c-4d92-8dc6-41d4fa003a1c/Alliyah-FB.png Action Committee https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ff763ffe6d1fd0b6dfd5a23/beceaf4e-d8a5-4674-a309-12818c54b227/Tofumi-FB.png Action Committee https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ff763ffe6d1fd0b6dfd5a23/1616207732369-CFIWIP5CIFWG2BGEOO8C/aclu3.gif Action Committee https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ff763ffe6d1fd0b6dfd5a23/1616207628677-NTDCF5Z3LQJQGY2QG3CD/aclu.gif Action Committee https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ff763ffe6d1fd0b6dfd5a23/1616207757867-CI4O91336YOF7699OKO9/aclu2.gif Action Committee https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ff763ffe6d1fd0b6dfd5a23/1616098255029-MXSF01AYIYNI4KQNCNZN/Yaya_Rally_06_18_20-33.jpg Action Committee - Our campaign to bring greater transparency and accountability around metal detectors and scanning in NYC schools. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ff763ffe6d1fd0b6dfd5a23/1616217587678-43UV6FZFWOUYGHTQVNQ3/Yaya_Rally_06_18_20-109.png Action Committee https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ff763ffe6d1fd0b6dfd5a23/1616363507286-7C952EKJXYTARASWDSD1/IMG_6673.jpg Action Committee https://www.yayanetwork.org/summer daily 0.75 2026-03-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ff763ffe6d1fd0b6dfd5a23/61a5a2c6-9ed3-4db8-a77c-d537add62ef0/Anti-oppression+week.png Summer Institute The workshops in this week introduce you to systems and beliefs that explain why so few people fight for change. We examine the American Dream as it relates to migration, race, class, nationality, and gender as well as other workshops that help us reflect on the prejudices we all carry and must unlearn. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ff763ffe6d1fd0b6dfd5a23/d1ea82ea-d494-4072-be40-6bf6d9f1793c/IMG_5171.PNG Summer Institute YA-YA's at the Sylvia Rivera Law Project during Gender Justice Week learning about the work they do with the Trans and Gender Non-Conforming Community as it pertains to incarceration. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ff763ffe6d1fd0b6dfd5a23/232a6a5f-961f-4a6e-89c9-89e9add33038/Anti-oppression+week+%282%29.png Summer Institute Known to be our most pivotal week, The Life Maps week creates a space of healing, resilience, and empowerment. We share our life stories to understand why our work as YA-YAs, leaders, and community members informed by the experiences we’ve had and the changes we need to see. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ff763ffe6d1fd0b6dfd5a23/dbaa654f-c665-4276-89a9-354b32683f93/IMG_5174.PNG Summer Institute photography by Pat Lin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ff763ffe6d1fd0b6dfd5a23/7917a6da-b455-4b9b-b30a-e8f47d3ad54b/3.png Summer Institute In the Anti-Racism Week, YA-YA's engage in problematizing structures of racism in American society. Looking at policies, historical elements, and their own life experiences --YA-YAs will be challenged to understand their relationship to race and racialized structures of oppression. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ff763ffe6d1fd0b6dfd5a23/658f3887-4cfb-4f28-9673-5a3bf30dc78a/IMG_5172.PNG Summer Institute YA-YA's at the Schomburg Center visiting the Black Power Exhibition; photography by Pat Lin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ff763ffe6d1fd0b6dfd5a23/ede1fa0e-f799-4d8f-a59a-d82021ebb0b6/4.png Summer Institute The Beyond Capitalism Week of the Summer Institute challenges you to examine and think critically on mass incarceration, the prison industrial complex, and the communities working to combat the inequalities of the criminal justice system. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ff763ffe6d1fd0b6dfd5a23/4e138759-1458-42aa-bcd2-a9950d9383d2/IMG_5173.PNG Summer Institute photography by Pat Lin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ff763ffe6d1fd0b6dfd5a23/22c398c2-304c-4176-8729-3160b6d277ec/5.png Summer Institute This block focuses on the fight for migrant justice. We reflect on the purposes of migration and what our own relationships are to it. Among many other things, we also discuss the policies that impact the lives of undocumented people and how they can be changed. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ff763ffe6d1fd0b6dfd5a23/a6edc79d-d006-46fd-97db-9ff98716c49a/_E4C2900.jpg Summer Institute photography by Pat Lin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ff763ffe6d1fd0b6dfd5a23/706c8d2f-d465-4cd1-b471-d9f085fc721b/6.png Summer Institute In the Gender Justice Week, participants will be deconstructing their own and their community's expectations of gender and sexuality in society and explore what it means to move toward the full acceptance of all identities while recognizing and thinking critically of the intersections between gender justice, incarceration, and much more. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ff763ffe6d1fd0b6dfd5a23/2477bf58-8bf2-4551-a8e2-c93e086f9eb4/_E4C2910.jpg Summer Institute Ya-YA's with Youth Against Displacement and Chinese Staff and Workers Association on a tour of 85 Bowery, China Town, and LES learning about the impact of development and displacement; photography by Pat Lin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ff763ffe6d1fd0b6dfd5a23/dcda3512-4826-4591-b955-4ac2de8e1ef7/Anti-oppression+week+%285%29.png Summer Institute We close out the Summer Institute by learning about more opportunities at YA-YA for the Fall, as well as have our annual YA-YA Picnic in the park with a historical tour of places YA-YA's have gone for the past 21 years. https://www.yayanetwork.org/request-workshops daily 0.75 2021-09-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ff763ffe6d1fd0b6dfd5a23/1617862172651-XCVUGXHUYAF4ONGHK2F9/IMG_1464.JPG Request Youth-Run Workshops YA-YA Lead Facilitator facilitating the “10 Chairs” activity as a part of the Summer Institute’s Classism Week; photography by Pat Lin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ff763ffe6d1fd0b6dfd5a23/1618271910808-U14P1MJZ5Y9JBOQI8T9X/Copy+of+XE4C5035.JPG Request Youth-Run Workshops Photography by Ellie Jayakar https://www.yayanetwork.org/year-in-review daily 0.75 2024-02-16 https://www.yayanetwork.org/join-our-board daily 0.75 2025-02-21 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ff763ffe6d1fd0b6dfd5a23/7fd87834-764e-4fd4-893b-ce819f711284/IMG_0128.jpg https://www.yayanetwork.org/interested-in-working-with-yaya daily 0.75 2025-02-21