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Youth Advisory Council (YAC)
Who is the YAC?
The YAC is comprised of teenagers from across the U.S. and even a couple from Canada, eh. YACers may reapply to serve on the council until they graduate from high school.
What does the YAC do?
The YAC acts as a member of the Do Something Staff. They generate fresh ideas and enable Do Something to better serve teens nationwide. YAC responsibilities are:
- Attend one in-person, travel & lodging expense paid meeting with the whole YAC at Do Something's office in New York City!
- Monthly Conference Calls (about 20 minutes per call) every first Monday of the month.
- Assist with the Do Something Grant scoring/judging process
- Representing Do Something at meetings, conferences and in the community at large. YACers will act as the official youth "Ambassadors" for Do Something.
- Always respond (quickly) to Do Something brainstorm, requests for opinion e-mails.
Why is the YAC important?
While Do Something utilizes focus groups and teen marketing experts, this information isn't merely informative. It is vital to the success of the organization that a group of teens are actual stakeholders in the organization, helping to influence the organization's direction and to keep us up to date with what's hot and what's not.
Do Something is committed to giving young people opportunities to make a difference. It is impossible for Do Something to function without getting feedback and opinions directly from teens. The YAC is one of the most important puzzle pieces of the giant jigsaw puzzle that is Do Something.
How do I become a YAC member?
Applications for next year will be accepted from June 1, to August 15th, 2008. Do Something strives to include a wide range of opinions and life experiences among its YAC members.
Meet the 2007-2008 YAC
Liza W.
Liza is a senior in high school from Boston, Massachusetts. Several of the causes she is passionate about are gay rights, education, the environment, and women's rights. Outside of Do Something, she acts on her interest in social justice through heading the Gay Bisexual Straight Alliance at her school and interning at a non-profit organization called Artists for Humanity, an after school program that employs urban youth in the arts. Her other hobbies include hiking, lacrosse, reading Salman Rushdie, bad romantic comedies and baking.
Leah A.
Leah is a junior at Staten Island Technical H.S. in NYC. At school she is President of the Wellness Club, co-founder and Secretary of the Do Something Club, and very active in the Young Producers Club. She participates in the school productions; her last role was the Jester in Once Upon A Mattress. She loves dance and has studied ballet since she was 3. Leah has been a two-time scholarship recipient for Camp Rising Sun, an international leadership program, through the Louis August Jonas Foundation. Last summer she attended the program in its European location, in Denmark. Leah loves traveling and hopes to see the whole world! She was a Nestle Very Best in Youth in 2005 and a NextStep Magazine Super Teen in 2007. Leah loves reading, movies, theater, and keeping in touch with her friends from across the world. She is currently teaching herself to play acoustic guitar.
Theresa S.
Theresa is a senior at Baldwin Senior High School, located on Long Island. She prides herself in being respectful and well mannered, all the while having fun with her friends and family. Her main goals include learning five languages, traveling the world, and being someone her family can be proud of. She enjoys listening to music, especially Justin Timberlake, learning new things, and being surrounded by genuine, good people. Her quirky personality, in conjunction with her strong sense of self, makes her a confident individual who is always looking for ways to better herself. She is most inspired by her fellow adolescents who have achieved great things in their life and hopes to be considered one of them.
Jana M.
Jana is from upstate New York, which is just as boring as it sounds. She is a high school senior, and her hobbies are theater, shopping, watching tv, and sarcasm. She founded the Junior Friends of the Library in her hometown, and she wouldn’t be able to survive without coffee or lipgloss. In her spare time, Jana has movie nights with her friends, and attempts to bake brownies (always with disastrous results).
Avery H.
Avery is a sophmore at The Collegiate School on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. He is the founder of a charitiable organization called RelightNY, and enjoys doing community service. For the summer of 2007, Avery spent the month of July in Central and Southern Peru working at two schools, buiding a playground and roofing a classroom. When not he isn't in school, Avery enjoys playing sports such as football, basketball, and frolf (frisbee golf). He also likes to hang out in central park on nice days and just chill with his friends. Avery listens to music of all genres from Hip-Hop to Rock to Jazz. His favorite food is pizza from New Pizza Town on Broadway and 78th street. Avery's favorite TV shows are Entourage, The Office, The Daily Show, and Sportscenter.
Laura M.
Laura is from Westchester, NY, where she attended Horace Greeley High School. Her hobbies include community service, playing the saxophone, and playing softball. She founded a 501c3 non-profit organization for Katrina relief and is the co-president of SHARE, the community service club at her high school. Her favorite subject in school is science, and she wants to be a pediatrician. In her spare time, she enjoys hanging out with friends, running, listening to music, and watching Grey's Anatomy.
Divya P.
Divya lives in Saskatchewan Canada and is presently attending Walter Murray Institute. She is fascinated by yoga and is crazy about dance. Divya really enjoys being a Student Ambassador with the Canadian Kids Help Phone service and sitting on the council rasiing awareness about there help line. Debate and human rights take up most of her lunch hours and currently she is fully involved in raising funds for a school in Cambodia.
Apart from the generic, Divya secrerly avoids novels, is obbsssed with dangly earings and is a full hearted fighter against sexism. Some passions following include the Fistula Foundation and areas surrounding Male Rape.
Shamsa M.
Shamsa is a senior at the Lawrenceville School in Lawrenceville, NJ. While she does not call herself an environmentalist, kids at her school make fun of her for never throwing away her bottles and getting mad at people who take too many cups at the dining hall. The environmental club is scared of her. She plays squash, wears neon yellow Crocs, and writes a food review column for the school newspaper with her sister.
Megan M.
Megan is a senior at Columbus Catholic High School in Waterloo, Iowa, but she originally hails from Hampton, Virginia. She is obsessed with everything theatre, especially BROADWAY MUSICALS and SHAKESPEARE. Her main goal in life is to be a star on Broadway, but until then she is very involved in both her high school theatre and community theatre. She has played roles such as Wendy Jo in Footloose the Musical, Brenda in The Pajama Game, Winnie Tate in Annie Get Your Gun, and will be in her high school's production of Guys and Dolls this spring. Her greatest accomplishment thus far is being chosen to sing in front of 20,000 teens at the National Catholic Youth Conference in Columbus, Ohio in November 2007. Megan also enjoys playing volleyball on her high school's varsity squad and rooting for her favorite baseball team, the Chicago Cubs!
Grace K.
Grace is a senior attending Los Alamitos High School in Orange County, California. She is a member of her school's award-winning show choir. She is also on the executive board for Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) and a member of Key Club, Liberty in North Korea (LiNK), Model United Nations, Spanish Honors Society, and the student government at her church. She also tutors younger students in various subjects ranging from history to SATs. In her free time, Grace enjoys hanging out with friends, going to church, and absolutely adores singing and dancing…not to mention basking in the California sun at the beach which is only 10 minutes away.
Chris B.
Chris is from
Daniel W.
Daniel is from Linwood, a small town in Southern New Jersey. When he is not in class at Mainland Regional High School he is either devoting his efforts to his ‘Kids Feeding Kids’ program which is focused on ending childhood hunger in America or he is practicing crew on the waters of the Atlantic Ocean. With the little bit of free time that he has beyond those passions he enjoys reading, fishing, cooking, snowboarding, watching Smallville/ House/NCIS, and most of all listening to music
Alice F.
Alice is a senior at Stuyvesant High School in New York. She is a member of Chinatown Youth Initiatives, Science Olympiad, and the National Honor Society. During her free time, she volunteers at New York Road Runners races, bikes, reads David Sedaris, and catches up on her sleep. She watches Unwrapped (on the Food Network), Grey's Anatomy and Ugly Betty, and is an avid reader of the New Yorker. If she could only bring three items to a desert island, she would choose dental floss, "Tray" the Uglydoll, and her downtempo music.
Radhika M.
Playing the piano, doing community work and playing soccer are some of Radhika's favorite things to do. She's a sophomore at
Serena Z.
Serena is a sophomore at Adolfo Camarillo High School in Southern California. She enjoys reading, listening to music, hanging out with family and friends. She participates in various extracurricular school activities such as Model UN, Key Club, Building with Books, science competitions, Speech and Debate. Her favorite sport is tennis. During her free time, she likes to volunteer at homeless shelters or do service projects with her friends. Serena adores chilly London weather even though she lives in Southern California. She would love to live in Europe, particularly Barcelona. It is her dream to become a successful business woman. Serena is optimistic, sincere and very friendly. She likes to meet different people and expand her horizons.
Cameron W.
Cameron is from Union City, Tennessee. He is a senior at Obion County Central High School where he is very involved. I like hanging out with my friends and family when I am not busy with school functions. He love meeting new people and being involved with his community and St. Jude Childrens Research Center. His all time favorite person is Oprah Winfrey. He likes to think that he's her biggest fan. In his free time, Cameron likes going to the movies, fishing, and bowling with his peers. He has a pet pig that lives in his bedroom, her name is Kendrick. He plans on going to Med school and becoming a Plastic Surgeon after graduating from High School.
Lauren B.
Lauren is a Senior at Winston Churchill High School in Potomac, Maryland, a suburb of our Nation's capital. She is a world champion athlete training and competing as a member of Maryland Twisters "F5" all-star cheerleading team. Voted "Miss Congeniality" in the 2006 Miss Maryland Teen Pageant, Lauren is that girl who always goes the extra mile for others. She has been elected as "Captain" of her summer camp at SB2W, and will be responsible for leading over 200 campers, including her peers, as they actively live out the program's motto: "I'm third" ~ putting God first, others second, and self third. Lauren's involvement in the community began as a Girl Scout in the Nation's Capital and has recently included raising funds for "Walk for Hope", "Happy Helpers for the Homeless", and "The Eye of the Storm", Maryland Twisters special needs cheerleading team. Taking too many pictures and laughing as often as she can, are probably two of her most famous and common hobbies. She loves s ugar, is never far from her cell phone, iPod, or VW bug. Her room and her car are a beautiful jumble of prized possessions. Lauren plans to cheer for an NCAA Division I program and looks forward to college life away from home next fall.
[More to come]