UU Youth Corps

“Joining the Youth Corps is easily one of the best decisions I’ve made all year. I’ve learned so much about how to be an effective activist, and learned a lot about the way our legislative systems function. I will definitely be taking the knowledge and skills I’ve acquired from Youth Corps with me to other chapters of my life. If you want to learn how to be an effective activist, advocate for a social justice issue you care about, or are just looking for more ways to get involved, the Youth Corps is perfect for you! Our strength lies, among many other things, in our numbers.”

~KH, Youth Corps 2022-23

“The Youth Corps is an extraordinary program empowering our youth to be agents of change. They've achieved remarkable accomplishments, including meeting with legislators. Our teens have gained invaluable skills in organizing, collaborating with legislators, and learning effective communication. The dedication displayed by these youth is inspiring. We're immensely grateful to UU Mass Action for providing this transformative opportunity. The Youth Corps ignites a passion for social justice, shaping our youth into powerful advocates. Other UU congregations, don't miss out on the chance to empower your youth!”

~Raeann Mason, Youth Director in Belmont

What is the Youth Corps?

The Youth Corps is for UU Youth from across UU congregations who are passionate about social justice, and want to take powerful action together. Together, we will take action on Housing Justice, Youth Jobs, and other campaigns the Youth Corps is interested in. All our campaigns are in relationship with our partner organizations including youth organization I Have a Future, and housing justice group City Life/Vida Urbana.

Actions and events have included:

• Meeting with legislators to discuss about issues youth care about

• Facilitating the only Youth-Led workshop at UU Youth Con 2023 to learn about minimum wage, wealth inequality, and housing justice, and taking action together.

• Rallying at the State House together in support of Youth Jobs

• Our signature “S’mores Justice” event where we build relationships, learn about a social justice issue in an engaging interactive way, take actions, and each S’mores!

• Opportunities to learn from seasoned organizers about racial justice, anti-oppression, community organizing, and solidarity.

The Corps is for high schoolers, but we will also plan activities open to junior youth as well. 

Who are we?

Unitarian Universalist Mass Action works to organize UUs in MA to confront oppression. We do this through our relationships with social justice groups who are most affected by these issues. We create action opportunities for congregations, and develop leadership. We focus on Economic Justice, Climate Justice, support for people in prison, Immigrant Justice, and Indigenous Justice. Racial justice is part of all our campaigns. The Youth Corps currently includes the Belmont and Bedford congregation, and hopes to grow in the coming year.

UU Mass Action staff Rev Jo Murphy (Executive Director) and Tali Smookler (Congregational Organizing Director), support the Youth Corps in consultation with staff and youth from each congregation. 

"Youth Corps was transformative for my 9th graders. They were so upset to learn more about the inequities in our society, especially housing inequality, and then they were empowered by meeting with legislators. It gave them a bigger sense of what justice is and how to make change.”

~Rev Annie Gonzalez, Bedford Youth Director

“Youth Corps is an amazing opportunity for youth who are passionate about social justice, make a real impact in their communities. It provides a space for like-minded youth to form friendships and learn different issues in Massachusetts and different action steps they can take to fight for what their passionate about. It is a welcoming community and great place for people of all experience levels in social justice work to learn more about actions they can take. I learned so much this year as a member of the Youth Corps and feel excited and prepared to keep working with UUMass Action in my future!” ~LH, Youth Corps 2022-23

What is the time commitment and how do i get involved?

We know youth are very busy so we are trying to make this program manageable! There are two ways to get involved with the Youth Corps:

1. Join Youth Corps Events: Join our ~monthly Youth Corps events with others from your congregation to take action and learn about important social justice issues! The only time commitment for this is to show up to our events and actions, with the opportunity for some optional additional actions as they arise. As much as possible, we will work to plan events that can be integrated into regularly scheduled youth programming and hope to work with congregations to make this possible.

2. Join the Youth Leadership Team: This is a smaller group of youth that will meet 1-2 times a month on zoom in addition to the larger events, and will help organize and shape our Youth Corps work. This is for youth who are particularly excited to develop skills in social justice organizing work, connect more deeply with each other and our partners, and take on leadership opportunities. It is a larger time commitment, than the first option, but a great opportunity! There may occasionally be a small amount of optional work as well in between our zoom meetings if we have an upcoming event. We will work with you to figure out how to make it manageable time commitment the best we can. If you are at all interested in being part of this team, we hope you will join! If you are interested in this, please fill out this form and we will be in touch!

If you are interested in either of these opportunities or have any questions (whether you are a youth, parent, or staff!), please reach out to Tali at tsmookler@uumassaction.org. If you would like to be on the Leadership Team, please fill out this form as well!

“Youth Corps is a great way to learn about the injustices in our government and how you can help make peoples lives better” ~CDW, Youth Corps 2022-23