Posted February 28, 2022
 February 24, 2022 | Volume 29, No. 8 | Published Weekly Since 1994What Issues Do You Care About?YSA’s ServiceVote campaign asks young people to help register, educate, and get their peers out to vote; to connect their volunteering and service to voting and advocacy on the issues they care about; and to call on public officials to create spaces at every decision-making table for young voices.As part of our ServiceVote campaign, YSA is partnering with Guides.vote to publish a series of nonpartisan candidate & issue guides for the 2022 elections. People often don’t vote because they don’t know where candidates stand and are confused about how to find out. These nonpartisan, state-specific guides help voters navigate key positions. We research salient voting records and what candidates say to different groups, not just what they say on their websites, so the guides are an antidote to political spin. Before the team of researchers and writers begins work on this year’s guides, we want to hear from you about which issues you care most about that you want to see included in the guides. Please share how important the following issues are to you.Tell Us Which Issues You Care Most About in 2022 NEWS FROM THE FIELDCIRCLE’s 2022 Youth Electoral Significance Index Released The YESI includes two data-based rankings that incorporate more than a dozen indicators to highlight the top 10 Senate and Governor races where youth have an especially high likelihood to play a decisive role in 2022 – if they are engaged. Read more circle.tufts.edu Young People Should Start Running for Office In this op-ed, Run for Something co-executive director Amanda Litman explains why young people need to get into politics. Running for office & electing new leaders won’t solve every problem, but engaging in electoral politics is 1 way to make change. Read more www.teenvogue.com GRANTS & AWARDSFCYO Take Action for Power Fellowship – Deadline: March 13 This Fellowship is a year-long leadership development program designed for emerging organizers ages 18-24 passionate about social justice and transformative systemic change. Includes $15,000 stipend and up to $15,000 for project expenses. Read more fcyo.org Bill of Rights Institute MyImpact Challenge – Deadline: 5/16 MyImpact Challenge is a civic engagement contest. $40,000 in total student and teacher prizes, including a $10,000 student Grand Prize, will be awarded to students who submit an essay about “E Pluribus Unum” and a civic engagement project report. Read more billofrightsinstitute.org STORIES OF SERVICEEveryday Young Hero: Elisa ZoltickElisa Zoltick (17 | Potomac, Maryland) has always been an avid baker and volunteer. Since the age of 11, she would bake cookies for her local swim team, various churches, hospitals, and even her Thanksgiving guests. In early 2019, after reading a New York Times article about the “traffic jam” on Mount Everest that led to the deaths of 19 Sherpa guides and climbers, Elisa began to do more research. She learned about the exploitation the Sherpa people face—in addition to serving as porters and guides, they set up ladders and ropes along the path to the summit but are paid only one-tenth of what their Western counterparts are paid—and how, rather than being sent to school like she was, Sherpa children are frequently sent to climbing school where they’re taught how to do things like set paths and carry heavy loads. Because of such low wages and a short climbing season, many Sherpa live in poverty. Using her new understanding and her love of baking, Elisa founded All Sugared Up, a nonprofit through which Elisa and a team of volunteers bake and sell cookies to raise money for the Apa Sherpa Foundation. Created by Apa Sherpa, one of the most well-known Sherpa mountaineers, the Foundation strives to empower youth by providing access to education and basic necessities. Through her work, Elisa has raised over $2,000 for the Foundation. She is also working closely with them to develop pre-recorded weekly English lessons for Sherpa youth living in the villages outside of Mount Everest. By improving the community herself, Elisa also inspires others to work towards social impact. In the early days of the pandemic, Elisa ramped up her baking efforts to raise funds for both the Apa Sherpa Foundation and to purchase face masks that would be donated to healthcare and other essential workers along with some of their homemade sweet treats. While Elisa and her team have helped close to 5,000 people since All Sugared Up’s start, Elisa knows that while there is still much to do, we need to measure results by ways other than numbers. For Elisa, as empathy we have towards others and our community increases, we are able to build social relationships, and become more understanding people.RESOURCES & TRAININGSHow to Run for Office Life Kit If you’ve ever thought about running for office – your town council or school board, the state legislature, even Congress, this guide is for you. It’ll tell you where to start and how to navigate everything from campaign fundraising to staffing. Read more www.npr.org America’s Nonprofits: Get Out the Vote – Nonprofit Vote This report shows that 1-in-5 surveyed nonprofits do voter engagement, but that share climbs to 1-in-3 for nonprofits that serve Black, Hispanic, and low-income communities. This report offers next steps to fostering a more inclusive electorate. Read more www.nonprofitvote.org SERVICE SONG OF THE WEEKSpotify“Singing You Through” – Heather Nova, Performed by US Navy Band”Do you think that I don’t knowhow far you’ve come?All the heights you’ve had to climb,the miles you’ve runDid you think I’d let you down?Just turn this ship aroundAnd leave you in the dust?But you must know you mustThat I’d be thereLike a bird, singing to you, I’ll be thereLike a bird, singing you throughI’ll be there, I’ll be there, Holding the light for youMaking it right for you, Singing you through.”OUR SPONSORSMichael Minks, Editor-in-ChiefCONNECT WITH YSA |