Homepage - Youth MOVE National

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.

DEI Statement:

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. 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 diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), and having a critical, intersectional lens in all we do, helps better ensure affirming, trauma informed environments, where youth are welcomed as they are, for who they are.

Our Work

Consulting

Assessment

Youth Peer Support

Policy

Youth Leadership & Civic Engagement

Youth MOVE Peer Center

Youth MOVE Chapter Network

At Youth MOVE National we rely heavily on local chapters to be our eyes and ears at the community level as we work on fulfilling Youth MOVE’s mission and vision. We live in a vast, widespread, and diverse country. In order to reach people and make positive changes in local communities, we depend on our large collection of chapters to support and carry on that work! Our chapters range from statewide to regional to local to tribal and within these chapters amazing and important youth leadership, programming and advocacy is happening at every level.

Learn More About Our Chapter Network!

What Youth MOVE Members are Saying

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.