Youth Together was created as a community-based response to inter-racial conflicts and violence in our school communities. Shortly after the passage of Proposition 187 and during the Proposition 209 campaign efforts, school officials, mental health workers, and parents were reporting increased incidents of inter-racial conflicts and violence in school communities, including group attacks on youth based upon racial identity.
In response, community leaders and activists convened parents and public and school officials to assess the problems and determine proactive solutions. The outcome of these meetings in 1995 was a commitment to work collaboratively to address the underlying conditions that contribute to the racial tension and poor developmental outcomes of students. This commitment led to the formation of Youth Together in 1996.
The community leaders and activists who founded Youth Together believed that social, political, community, and educational inequities were at the root of these tense conditions at schools; and that youth must take the leadership in creating long-term solutions.
In 1997, YT student teams at each target school, representing the diversity of the student body, assessed the needs of students in their schools. In every needs-assessment, the overwhelming majority of students was concerned about problems in their schools and wanted to participate in creating positive solutions, if provided the opportunities. Youth Together has been able to provide the vehicle for young people and other community members to empower themselves by coming together to advance the health and wellness needs and rights of our school community members.
Youth Together's founders were Margaretta Lin, David Kakishiba, Gabriel Hernandez, Millie Cleveland, and Warrick Liang. Representing their respective community-based organizations, these individuals helped found YT as a multiracial consortium between ARC Associates (former lead agency), East Bay Asian Youth Center, Xicana Moratorium Coalition, West Oakland Health Council, and International Institute of the East Bay. Their social justice experience and knowledge of and close connections to the ethnic-specific communities they serve helped shape the model and guiding principles YT follows. YT currently operates as a single organization with a board of directors comprised of youth, staff and community representatives.
