The Santa Cruz County Office of Education is happy to announce that we are currently recruiting students to join our Youth Led Leadership Alliance (YLLA) for the 2023-24 school year!
Open to all Santa Cruz County high school students, YLLA is a project-based program designed to empower youth voice, facilitate expression, build collaborative relationships with community partners and connect students with decision makers at the campus, district and county levels.
The Alliance consists of six topically focused groups working to make an impact on today’s community while developing tomorrow’s leaders. The groups include Youth for Environmental Action, the Queer & Trans Youth Council, Youth Artists Taking Action, the Countywide Black Student Union, Multilingual Youth Taking Action, and the Youth Mental Health Leadership Council.
Each group draws students from across the county and engages them with mentors who help them explore pressing social issues, create projects, practice grassroots advocacy, and foster civic engagement.
Students who join the Alliance have the opportunity to learn from professionals in various fields, work with students from other campuses, hone their leadership skills, elevate their voices, and help enrich their communities. Participants can also accrue community service hours for their time attending meetings, events, and working on projects.
Anyone enrolled in a high school within Santa Cruz county is eligible to participate in any of the six leadership groups. While meeting times and locations vary from group to group, the time commitment is roughly 1 hour per week after school, usually between the hours of 4-6pm. There are also once a month, mandatory Saturday meetings between 10am-2pm. Additional events and work sessions may be required depending on the group.
If you or someone you know is interested in joining the Alliance, please click the button above to apply. For more information, please contact Student Leadership and Engagement Coordinator, Andres Ortiz at anortiz@santacruzcoe.org or 831-466-5713.