Building Bridges and Creating Community

The Westchester Youth Alliance empowers diverse high school students across the county to engage in community service, dialogue, and cultural awareness to empower them to build connected communities and shape a more inclusive future.

Register now for our upcoming events:

“Imagine a community whose members seemingly have more differences than similarities, one that is a diverse group of people that transcends racial, cultural, and religious boundaries but is united by the goal of doing good for humanity. That’s WYA.”

— Eric, WYA Alumnus

Our Curriculum

Join a unique network of Westchester teens committed to building bridges across diverse communities of faith, race and identity through dialogue and service.

Destination #1 Nurturing Voice

When identity is both individual and collective, individuals see themselves as not only living in but functioning as organically part of their community. The focus here is on observation: seeing deeply into who we are in the present.

Destination #2 Community-building

Community, in the best sense, is always aspirational. Rooting ourselves in community allows us to see ourselves as growing individuals and as part of an evolving society.

Destination # 3 Action

From its inception, WYA has developed a reputation as a teen group that acts. By definition these acts are in service to their community. Not insignificantly, participants describe their experiences as fun.

When there are no limitations on who is included,

there are no limits to what we can accomplish.

Building Bridges and Creating Community

Register now for our upcoming events:

“Imagine a community whose members seemingly have more differences than similarities, one that is a diverse group of people that transcends racial, cultural, and religious boundaries but is united by the goal of doing good for humanity. That’s WYA.”

Our Curriculum

94% of teens agreed that WYA helped them better understand how to make a difference in their community

100% of teens increased their Social-Emotional Learning capacity

96% of teens agreed that WYA helped them find common ground with people different from themselves

“Stereotypes and ignorance reinforce barriers and add to divisiveness. The dream and work of WYA is to deepen understanding among youth which, in turn, will strengthen our communities.”