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Dear Youth Advocates, 

We are excited to announce that Mark Saint Amour (they/them/their) will be joining Youth MOVE National as its next Executive Director!  Mark was selected as a result of a national search that included a competitive field of more than 120 candidates. Throughout our selection process, we were impressed with Mark’s passion for youth voice and engagement, and commitment to equity and justice.  With their own lived experience, Mark deeply believes in listening to youth voices and the power of holistic affirmation.  A seasoned nonprofit executive and board leader, Mark brings more than 10 years of leadership experience in the national non-profit industry, most recently serving as the Co-Executive Director of the environmental justice organization Center for Whole Communities and as a core trainer for the Transgender Training Institute. Their work in the field aligns with our values centered around lived experience, advocacy, collaboration, and community. Through Mark and the YMN team, we will further have the ability to move forward goals surrounding the internal strength of YMN and our external goals of expanding our chapter network capacity and coalition building. The board of Youth MOVE National is excited for our future and our opportunity to grow through our new strategic plan.

Please join us in welcoming Mark!

Words simply cannot express just how happy I am to be joining the Youth MOVE National family (but let’s just say – IT’S A LOT)! As a neurodivergent, queer, and transgender person of color and victim/survivor of childhood trauma, youth advocacy is deeply important to me. My career has taken me in many different directions for the past 20+ years. While some of those paths have been life-giving, and others have been life-draining, all have been opportunities to learn and grow that have ultimately led me here, to what already feels like a true homecoming. I could not be prouder of the amazing work Youth MOVE National has done in the past, and I could not be more excited for the amazing work yet to come! – Mark Saint Amour