Teens Selected to attend CADCA National Leadership Forum in Washington D.C.

Lydia, Faith and Cassie

Three Van Buren County Teens have been selected to attend the CADCA National Leadership Forum and the National Youth Leadership Initiative Experience. This event is being held in Washington D.C. February 3-6, 2014. Cassie Johnson and Faith Murphy, both 12th grade Van Buren High School students, were selected by a team of adult SAFE Coalition members who reviewed all applications submitted for the event. Their applications were rated the highest and they were given the honor of attending this year.  Lydia Heald a 12th grade Van Buren High School student will be attending as a Youth Trainer for CADCA’s National Youth Leadership Initiative Experience.  This will be Lydia’s third training that she will be involved in as a trainer.

CADCA's NYLI Experience is built on the framework of the National Coalition Institute's National Coalition Academy. In these sessions, both youth and their adult advisors learn how to help community coalitions be more effective in producing community change. The NYLI Experience helps coalitions build their capacity to foster youth leadership in the design, implementation and evaluation of action strategies addressing community problems. In addition, this training builds the relationship between the youth leader and the adult coalition coach.

The participants learn about the Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF), logic models, strategic planning, developing interventions, advocating for change, evaluation, and sustainability. The NYLI Experience is a CADCA workforce development strategy that teaches what is required to create and nurture the growth of committed leaders and their work within coalitions. It better equips youth and adults to develop an action plan that clearly defines the strategies that young leaders will carry out to address the problems and goals that the coalition is striving to affect.

It is an honor to be selected to attend this event. The coalition only sends two Van Buren County students each year based on applications of the YLC members. These teens should be commended for their hard work and dedication to their community!  Congratulations Cassie, Faith and Lydia!  The adult coalition members attending with the girls this year will be Ginger Shaw and Kris Rankin.

For more information on NYLI or the YLC Program please contact the Van Buren County SAFE Coalition at 319-293-6412 or info@vbsafecoalition.com.