An important goal of Bird Street's Youth Development Program is to identify and nurture the leadership potential of every member. Bird Street sponsors the Upham's Corner Youth Council, comprised of 20-30 high school members who plan and implement activities that include: Annual Youth Summit, Youth Philanthropy Project, Community Service projects, advocacy and community organizing events, and social activities.
Youth Council members attend leadership trainings and represent Bird Street on numerous boards and community coalitions as voting delegates.
Middle School Youth Council:  This group of 20 middle school students meets weekly to learn about leadership, take on community projects, identify issues of importance to our membership, the community and the City, takes field trips and takes action, where appropriate.  The group participates in advocacy campaigns and our annual Youth Summit.  Members of the Middle School Youth Council receive a monthly stipend between October and May.
High School Youth Council:  This group of 20-30 high school students meets weekly to develop leadership skills, public speaking, advocacy, mediation, conflict-resolution, event planning, and youth philanthropy.  The youth-driven group is supported by the Education & Leadership Manager but is mostly self governing.  Members of the High School Youth Council receive a monthly stipend between October and May.
Annual Youth Summit: This annual spring event is produced in cooperation and partnership with the partners in GOTCHA (Getting off the Corner Hanging Around) coalition.  The youth plan, implement, and evaluate this issue-driven day-long conference in order to highlight important items of concern to community youth.  More than 300 youth annually participate in this activity.
Youth Philanthropy:  With funding from local foundations, our high school youth council runs its own mini-grant program that awards $10,000-$12,000 in $500 to $2500 grants to youth-driven organizations with projects that have a positive impact on the community.  The youth council hosts a bidding conference, issues Requests for Proposals, evaluates the applications, awards grants, reviews the projects, and then evaluates the effectiveness of the funding.
The leadership program is managed by Shamekia Franklin, 617-282-6110 ext. 12 or sfranklin@birdstreet.org.