YSA is thrilled to officially unveil our 2016 Global Youth Service Day (GYSD) Lead Agencies. We have selected ALIVE to serve as our “boots on the ground” for GYSD. These organizations are key leaders in mobilizing young people and their partners to plan and support youth led service projects in their community, city, and state. GYSD will be celebrated this year from April 15-17, 2016.

Last year our 78 GYSD Lead Agencies planned nearly 2,000 projects which engaged 105,000 youth volunteers in over 400,000 hours of community service. You can check out here the full impact of the 2015 Lead Agency Program. You can also find examples of Lead Agency projects by checking out their stories of service. One example is the Duluth YMCA and their GYSD project’s focus to alleviate youth homelessness in Minnesota. Another example is Community Youth Concepts work to improve access to education for the youth in Iowa.

With grant funding from State Farm along with training and support from YSA, these 107 organizations will lead high-impact, high-visibility service activities and celebration events for GYSD. As the official organizer of GYSD in their area, Lead Agencies are a vital part of YSA’s work to create a culture where all young people have the opportunities and the support they need to help make their communities healthier, smarter, safer, kinder, fairer, cleaner, and greener.