information for Schools and school districts
About ypa
In 2021, a new and exciting initiative called Youth and Peace in Action (YPA) was introduced with support from 20+ Rotary Districts. It’s the largest local youth peacebuilding initiative in the US and Caribbean. The implementing organization for Youth & Peace in Action is nonprofit NewGen Peacebuilders℠ (NGP). Since 2013, NGP has certified over 10,000 young peacebuilders.
YPA leverages an innovative online peace platform to provide virtual and live peace education, training, and mentoring to schools and teachers that put young people at the center of peacebuilding. YPA’s two interactive programs are the Leading Peace Project Teams (LPPT) experience and the My Peacebuilder Foundations (MPF) online course and certification accompanied by a teacher toolkit.
Watch the two-minute video to learn more about YPA.
Results and Impact
From September 2021 through June 2023, YPA has delivered over 70,000 hours of peace education and mentoring; initiated almost 100 student-led peace projects; certified 2,250 young peacebuilders; and distributed over 1,000 peace education toolkits to teachers.
The implementing organization for YPA is peace education, training, and mentoring nonprofit NewGen Peacebuilders℠ (NGP), led by Rotary Peace Fellow and Rotary Positive Peace Activator Patricia Shafer. NGP programs have been delivered or are in development for young people ages 14 – 29 in 15 US states and 18 countries.
Students who complete the My Peacebuilder Foundations (MPF) online course and/or Leading Peace Project Teams Expereince (LPPT) become certified peacebuilders and often qualify for service hours, awards, recognition, and scholarships.
Service Clubs can receive recognition as a certified peacebuilder club.
Join in!
leading peace project teams
The Leading Peace Project Teams (LPPT) experience uses live, virtual training to support students to design and develop peace projects. Students benefit from virtual mentoring to implement the projects. Hundreds of students have created projects that qualified them for awards, recognition, and scholarships.
For schools that sign up for LPPT, an additional interactive, online course called My Peacebuilder Foundations (MPF) is also available to any/all teachers or students. It takes 10 hours to complete and receive certification. MPF content is accompanied by a Teacher Toolkit including a Course at a Glance, slides, and downloadable activities to help guide dialogue and discussion.
Certified NewGen Peacebuilder Palash from Ohio shares his LPPT experience
IMPACTFUL PEACE PROJECTS
Through LPPT, students work together as leaders and project managers to create peace in one or more of 10 categories created from analyses of global trends and topics of concern to young people and their communities. We highly encourage you to take a look at the peace project catalogue.
Peace project design and implementation is guided by the UNLEASH Innovation Process developed by the United Nations and utilized by YPA alongside core peacebuilding frameworks and tools.
Click the play button on each of the videos below to see examples of successful, youth-led peace projects developed through Leading Peace Project Teams.
Welcome New Neighbors
Charlottesville, Virginia
Access to Healthy Foods
Charlotte, North Carolina
WHAT STUDENTS AND EDUCATORS SAY
Palash Kapoor is a a junior at Sycamore High School from Cincinnati, Ohio. He is also a YPA alumnus and Ambassador! Some of his thoughts in the video below have been shared with classrooms across the US, Caribbean, and Philippines as a part of the online course.
JoAnna Arnold teaches K-6 French, Spanish and High School Service Learning at Furlow Charter School in Americus, Georgia. Her work with YPA has earned her the title of Peace Activator!
The Leading Peace Project Teams training experience incorporates key peacebuilding frameworks, as well as data and facts related to ten peace project categories. Teams are facilitated to understand the root causes and visible effects of conflict in their communities, and brainstorm solutions with input from local stakeholders and experts.
What’s learned?
key peacebuilding frameworks
The learning journey leverages the NewGen Peacebuilders 7H Framework.
READY FOR THE NEXT STEP?
You can sign your school up for the 2024-25 school year. Interested students can register and choose training sessions or course once the school year begins.
