The Young Womens Project

The Young Womens Project (YWP) builds the leadership and power of young people so that they can transform DC institutions to expand rights and opportunities for DC youth. YWP programs engage youth on three levels as organizers (educating, engaging, mobilizing their peers, working as teams to make decisions), as advocates (presenting testimony to city Council, convening accountability meetings of Agency leaders, developing and passing policies) and as system rebuilders (developing programs, creating new peer-led systems, integrating youth into decision making). Our work engages under-resourced BIPOC youth ages 14-21 from all DC Wards and most public high schools. Last year, we hired and trained 251 young people from 25 DC public and charter schools; half of our youth live or go to school in wards 5, 7 and 8. Founded in 1994 as a Collective, YWP has a staff of 6 adults and 150 youth and a budget of $700,000. We are value-driven, anti-racist, and feminist, grounded in youth developme...