YPs and the National Board

A Little History:

The YP Initiative has been going for more than two and half years. It started when Peg Smith (CEO of ACA) and then ACA-President Marla Coleman asked four people from around the country (André Brewer, Jessica Coleman, Tommy Feldman, and Sam Steiger) to get together and come up with some plans to engage young people in ACA in new and more appropriate ways.

This group became the ACA National YP Committee (youngprosinfo@acamaillist.org) and thus began a long process of planning and delivering on that planning. That's where it started.

In the initial strategic planning sessions by the YP Committee and Peg and Marla, three phases where laid out:

1. Discovery - What do YPs want and need?
2. Development - Take what YPs want and develop it! With the help of YPs, of course
3. Distribution - Make sure it gets in the hands of YPs everywhere.

FACT: The ways in which these steps are executed is always changing. YPs at all Levels are trying to find the ways to make this initiative most effective. We are not afraid of trying something - and then doing it differently the next time if it didn't work.

The Committee has grown to 5 now (with the addition of Toni Davison,) and there may be further expansion depending on ACA National Board support.

Phase 1 took over a year to implement. Phase 3 jumped ahead of schedule and is now taking place alongside Phase 2. Our plans are flexible... and so are YPs!

Future Steps:

The YP Initiative is at an important stage. Essentially, it was a grassroots effort that started at the National Level of ACA, and then was quickly picked up by the local, section, and regional groups within ACA. Now, those two efforts are now coming together in the middle.

That's exactly what everyone hoped would happen. A lot is happening. At all Levels. And we feel that this is great!

FACT: Not everything is perfectly coordinated yet and it never will be. As a grassroots effort of volunteers, it is up to the volunteers to take as much time and initiative as they want and can (yep - we all have other jobs!) to help other YPs.

The YP Committee is working with the National Board this month to start long-range planning to make YPs and the efforts that go into connecting with YPs last beyond the people and ideas we have today.

Updated Thursday, October 12, 2006