From: RAKNGLTF@aol.com Date: Thu, 24 Aug 1995 14:33:26 -0400 Subject: NGLTF Youth Institute 8/24 NATIONAL GAY & LESBIAN TASK FORCE Press Release Contact: Robin Kane, (202) 332-6483, ext. 3311 ************ 25 YOUTH COMPLETE INTENSIVE WEEK-LONG TRAINING City Proclamation Issued to Commend NGLTF's Youth Leadership Training Institute Washington, DC -- August 24, 1995 -- Twenty-five youth activists from around the nation gathered August 13 through 20 for an intensive Youth Leadership Training Institute, sponsored by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF). The city of San Francisco issued a proclamation signed by the mayor commending the 25 participants, who were chosen from among 140 applicants. The NGLTF Youth Institute was created to increase the confidence, skills and leadership abilities of the participants -- all of whom have committed to apply those skills to a specific project back home. The week was action-packed with a wide range of session topics, including alliance building; conflict resolution; speakers bureaus; hotlines; statewide/rural networks; event/action organizing; visibility and outreach; youth organizing in the age of HIV/AIDS; public speaking; media skills; demystifiying fundraising; grantwriting; Internet activism; rural organizing; and organizing by and for people of color. All the participants were immediately able to practice the skills they learned by applying them directly to their projects back home. The youths each created realistic program goals and timeline, media plans, outreach and visibility programs and a fundraising scheme for their project, and consulted during one-on-one sessions with trainers to evaluate their plans. In addition to energetic participation in the workshops and other sessions, the youth came up with creative ways to help stay connected with one another and support each others' projects. In the fundraising session, those with more skills and experience created a buddy system with other individuals and committed to working with each other over the next year. The youth also created a regional structure so that the 25 Youth Institute graduates may continue to serve as an ongoing network of support. According to participants and trainers, the youth filled virtually every hour of the day with skills-building, organizing discussions, and more skills-building -- sometimes turning even relaxation time into further training sessions. The youth did squeeze in a beach bonfire, talent show and dance party during the intensive training week. "I came here with my doubts and my fears," said Alex Yim of Framingham, Massachusetts at the close of the training. "I leave with love and understanding. I have the confidence and skills that I need. Now I go back to my community and give back what they gave me." Yim is a 22-year-old Korean-American lesbian who is an active member of the Framingham Regional Alliance of Gay/Lesbian Youth and served as a youth phone counselor at Boston's Fenway Community Health Center. She intends to start a regional youth speakers bureau for the Framingham area. "The skills we learned and enhanced will be used from Hawaii to Maine, Florida to Alaska," said Terry Summers of Laramie, Wyoming. "It was a week that changed my life FOREVER." Summers is a 22-year-old white man who is an active member of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Association at the University of Wyoming. "I'm leaving this conference with the skills and the energy to add a spark to the developing movement for change in this country," said Wendy O'Neal of Atlanta, Georgia. "I say this as a black woman who loves women, who struggles against the intersection of racism, sexism and homophobia. I will go home ready to claim a space for myself with celebration and pride." O'Neal, who is 21-years-old, has been working to increase the visibility and acceptance of lesbian and bisexual women at Spelman College. She wants to establish a regional network of youth of color activists. "As a youth organizer in the movement, I find myself continuously educating the public," said Erik Richard of Portland, Maine. "But from the moment I arrived at the airport, I was not only learning about youth activism but was educated about the true diversity that exists within our community. As a result of this institute, I have reached a place in my life that I wouldn't have been at otherwise." Richard is an 18-year-old white gay man who dropped out of high school after he came out at 15 and the school refused to protect him from the violence he faced. He is active in Outright Portland, a support group and statewide speaker's bureau, and has been active in electoral politics. NGLTF provided scholarships, including travel, lodging, food and all training expenses, for each youth who needed assistance to attend the training. The diverse group of youth activists hailed from Alaska, Oregon, Minnesota, Washington, California, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Rhode Island, New York, Indiana, Georgia, Kentucky, Maine, Missouri, New Hampshire, Florida, Hawaii, Wyoming, Connecticut and Massachusetts. "The energy of the youth was infectious," said NGLTF Executive Director Melinda Paras, who attended the training for two days and addressed the youth about their connection to the movement for lesbian/gay/bisexual rights. "I was deeply impressed by the leadership abilities and commitment of the youth, and enjoyed learning about their projects back home. During the course of the week's training, they became a force to be reckoned with." The training team for the Youth Institute included Rachel Timoner, a 24-year-old white Jewish lesbian who is the former associate director of the NGLTF Policy Institute and founder of a gay youth hotline in San Francisco; Quang Dang, a 23-year-old activist in the areas of immigrants' rights, HIV prevention and education reform; and Sean Sasser, a 26-year-old African American HIV-positive AIDS educator and activist, who was the partner of famed youth HIV educator the late Pedro Zamora, of MTV's "Real World." "I have led many trainings, but this one was special," said training coordinator Timoner. "I have never before worked with a group that showed one another as much love and respect as this group did. It was particularly rewarding to lead this institute knowing that the participants would immediately put the knowledge into action, that the learning would translate into real change. I'm eager to see the results of this Institute sprouting across the country throughout the next year." --end-- [Editor's Note: Limited photos of the Youth Institute are available by calling Robin Kane, NGLTF Media Director, at (202) 332-6483, ext. 3311. Also call Kane if you are interested in contacting a youth participant from your region.]