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Where ALL Youth Thrive!

Motivating Others through Voices of Experience!

Mission:

Youth MOVE National connects, supports, and develops youth leadership in advocacy to create positive change. We practice authentic youth engagement through youth driven decision making by elevating youth voices of lived experience. We ensure that young people are heard and valued as leaders in the agencies, communities, and systems that impact their lives.

Vision:

Youth MOVE National envisions a future in which young people are valued as empowered leaders, advocates, and designers of communities that are built for all youth to thrive.

Commitment To Affirming Spaces Statement (CTASS):

Youth MOVE National is a youth focused, social justice nonprofit dedicated to ensuring a future in which young people are valued as empowered leaders, advocates, and designers of communities that are built for all youth to thrive. As we know, not all youth are presently thriving, especially those who are disproportionately affected by systemic oppression, and who are historically underrepresented and underserved. That is why we amplify youth voices who are Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color (BIPOC), Two-Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, and Asexual / Aromantic, and other youth who are non-exclusively heterosexual and/or cisgender (2SLGBTQIA+), disabled youth, and more. Focusing on having a critical, intersectional lens in all we do helps ensure better, more affirming, trauma informed environments, where all youth are welcomed and celebrated as they are, for who they are, and free of judgment and shame.

Youth MOVE National reaffirms our commitment to: Centering youth agency, autonomy, and consent over their own bodies, lives, and actions. Dismantling systemic oppression and barriers that deny youth the conditions to thrive. Prioritizing healing-centered care and harm reduction over punishment or forced interventions. Cultivating spaces and connections with affirming communities of resonance and support. Elevating the perspectives of youth with firsthand lived/ing experiences. Amplifying the BIPOC, 2SLGBTQIA+, and disabled youth communities who are disproportionately affected by violence and unaffirming environments.
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The Youth MOVE Impact

National Leadership in Youth Advocacy and Federal Policy Work

Youth MOVE National served as a key advisor to the Biden / Harris Administration on youth peer support and mental health advocacy and was honored to partner in the first-ever White House Youth Policy Summit. Similarly, on a federal level, we were instrumental in the development of 988 and still serve on its advisory council. We also have congressionally appointed staff who serve on the Inter-departmental Serious Mental Illness Coordinate Committee, directly reporting and advising Congress on youth mental health. Through this work, our team continues to help shape national conversations around equity, recovery, and authentic youth partnership, ensuring that young people with lived and living experience have a meaningful voice in the policy decisions that affect them.

Establishing Peer Connect as the National Gold Standard in Youth Peer Support

Our Peer Connect program has become the leading model for youth peer support accreditation across the country. We were a partner organization with the federal government on creating national peer support standards and have since trained entire state workforces in three states and continue to expand nationally, helping agencies and communities embed youth-driven, recovery-oriented practices into their systems of care and beyond.

Transforming Youth Lives and Systems Nationwide

At its core, Youth MOVE National exists to make sure young people feel seen, valued, and supported. Through our 40+ chapter network (and growing) across the country, peer support programs, and advocacy initiatives, we have helped hundreds of thousands of youth across the nation feel more connected and hopeful. These outcomes demonstrate our ongoing commitment to building systems where every young person has the opportunity to feel safe, affirmed, and have the confidence to lead and ultimately thrive within their communities
Youth MOVE has opened up a myriad of opportunities for me. I testified before the Senate Health and Provider Services Committee at the Indiana State Capitol in support of a bill that established a State Suicide Prevention Coordinator and ensured that schools employ suicide-prevention policies.
TylerYouth MOVE Indiana
Youth MOVE gave me a support network of people I can relate to on an intimate and personal level. They get me. They understand having a mental health condition and trying to maintain a healthy well-being.
AmandaYouth MOVE Virginia
I have been able to be myself, to be better than I was the day before. I have been able to become more of a leader and I’ve explored and traveled to different places and met new people.
CameronYouth MOVE North Carolina
Youth MOVE National believed in me way earlier than I believed in myself, and I now hold the knowledge of the greatness of young people until they are able to hold that themselves. I have had moments where I have considered stepping out of the peer support world, but what always keeps me here is the knowledge that not only what we do, but who we are, is foundational to this movement. And I believe in the peer support movement with every fiber of my being.
Maxxwell LaBrie (They/Them/He/Him)
Youths MOVE National has been an unwavering pillar of support, actively listening to my personal experiences and community struggles. Their genuine acknowledgment of our challenges has made me feel truly heard, fostering a sense of validation that goes beyond empathy. Through their initiatives, I've witnessed a tangible commitment to understanding the unique hurdles we face in achieving improved well-being. The organization's inclusive approach not only recognizes my individual journey but also acknowledges the collective efforts needed to uplift the entire community. In essence, Youth MOVE National's consistent validation has been instrumental in empowering me and my community on our path to enhanced well-being.
Haley Rizkallah (She/Her/Hers)
Youth MOVE National has provided me with a platform to voice my ideas, perspectives, and concerns as a youth. It has not only emphasized the importance of my voice in shaping systems of care for youth, but encouraged me to speak up and elevate youth voice to the forefront, where it deserves to be.
Rick Yang(He/Him)
Attending the Youth MOVE Young Adult Leadership Academy was a great experience. The facilitators were engaging and created an interactive environment that made learning fun and collaborative. I sharpened my leadership skills and was able to look at things through a lens I hadn’t thought of before. It helped me grow more confident in my ability to take on leadership roles and drive initiatives forward.
Cailey CrusemireShe/Her
Youth MOVE PA
Youth MOVE Ohio
Youth MOVE Suncoast
Kentucky Youth MOVE
Youth MOVE Revolution
Youth MOVE Suncoast
Chaves County Youth MOVE

Youth MOVE Chapter Network

Directly Serving Youth in Their Communities for Over 10 Years!

Our Chapter Network is made up of local community and peer-run grassroots organizations and youth dedicated to making their environments safer, more affirming, and connecting peer to peer to strengthen relationships, engage more civically, and become leaders within the workforce. Many of our Chapters do direct service work, directly assisting and supporting their communities in tackling issues such as houselessness, food insecurity, mental health challenges, reform within the criminal legal system, child welfare system, and more. All of which have had an immeasurably positive impact on local communities, counties, regions, states, and youth across this nation.

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Call For Chapters!

We want to help anyone under 30 with a passion for youth advocacy and activism to create a Chapter regardless of their size, location, or funding, or any other circumstances!

Are you a newly established youth group ready to grow?

Do you want to start your school’s first mental health club?

Are you an individual passionate about climate change or any other issue facing youth today, but don’t know where to start?

Interested or know a young person who might be? Visit the links below, check out our Chapter Classifications, and apply today!

2025 Chapter of the Year

We are thrilled to announce Youth MOVE National’s 2025 Chapter of the Year – Youth MOVE Massachusetts!

It’s safe to say Youth MOVE Mass has been all over the map – in a good way. There hasn’t been a month where we didn’t see a fantastic newsletter or a youth-led training or a youth leader helping us with external opportunities like being a panelist on our American Academy of Pediatrics project. Youth MOVE Mass is one of our longest-standing Chapters – and this type of engagement is why!

✨ Congratulations Youth MOVE Massachusetts! ✨

Learn More about Our Chapters!
Find a Youth MOVE Chapter Near You
Chapter Application

Our Work is Youth Driven and
Centers Direct Lived Experiences

Youth MOVE National lives by its mission, vision, and values by being youth led and driven. Youth MOVE National’s Board of Directors is mandated to be 60% youth including the Board President. Our work is proudly for youth, by youth! We have been working towards a future in which young people are valued as empowered leaders, advocates, and designers of communities that are built for all youth to thrive, in various forms for over 20 years.

Consulting

Assessment

Youth Peer Support

Policy

Youth Leadership & Civic Engagement

Youth MOVE Peer Center

Resources & Products

Partners We Have Worked With