Nevada has the highest teen pregnancy rate in the country as well as the highest high school drop-out rate in the country. Given the anything-goes tourist culture in Las Vegas as well as the lack of comprehensive sexuality education in southern Nevada schools, this doesn't seem to be a coincidence. Young women in southern Nevada are given neither the information nor the opportunities they need to protect themselves and their futures.

Given the opportunity and the resources, young women in southern Nevada will create positive and healthy changes for our community. The Southern Nevada Young Women’s Collaborative will provide a safe space for fifteen rising high school juniors to develop as leaders, advocates, community organizers and peer-health educators. From August 11th to August 15th, 15 young women from different southern Nevada high schools will attend the first annual “Talking Is Power” conference, held at Nevada State College in Henderson, Nevada. At the summer conference, 15 young women identified as leaders by school administrators will come together for a fun, action-packed week of youth organizing workshops, group leadership trainings, seminars on current political and women’s issues and a local issues discussion forum. These workshops will be facilitated by local partners and trainers from national organizations including the Sierra Club and Advocates for Youth. After the conference, participants will receive on-going support and will be invited to participate in bi-monthly summits and trainings on local issues. We will work with each participant throughout her high school career on both individual and community issues, including post-secondary preparation, mentoring and community-service activities.

The first steps were in learning about different forms of leadership, youth organizing and reproductive justice. I realized that there was a huge lack of information for young women in southern Nevada regarding their personal health, and that there are also very few opportunities for young women to get involved in the reproductive justice movement. I created the Southern Nevada Young Women's Collaborative to reach out to other young women leaders interested in the social justice movement. In order to get young women involved with the project, I've contacted school counselors and administrators as well as other local area organizations. This summer, I will host a summer conference called "Talking Is Power," to bring together young women from around southern Nevada to talk about and take action on women's issues, reproductive health and social justice.

Any help is appreciated - from trainings to advice to information on best practices for youth organizing and leadership - the more people working together for change in southern Nevada, the better!