The San Benito County Youth Employment Program Council was
recognized as being a front-runner in facilitating change within
local youth programs.
They were acknowledged for their work by being rewarded with
the
”
Architect of Change
”
award.
The San Benito County Youth Employment Program Council was recognized as being a front-runner in facilitating change within local youth programs.
They were acknowledged for their work by being rewarded with the “Architect of Change” award.
The award, which was presented to the council Nov. 20, affirmed that the hard work members of the council have done is worth it, said Kathi Bosworth, the co-chairperson for the San Benito program.
Bosworth accepted the award on behalf of the council at a meeting of the State Youth Council in Sacramento.
“I am very proud of the strong collaboration of business, labor, education and support agencies that are preparing our young people to participate and lead future economic development in San Benito County,” she said.
The program is part of the local workforce development board, created as a part of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998, to ensure that programs dealing with education, community and business were considered when developing plans for youth, Bosworth said.
Currently there are 28 councils throughout the state.
Projects the council has worked on include developing Web sites expressly for youth and conducting surveys to find out how to market to youth, she said.
The San Benito council was also one of the first in the state to include youth on their board, Bosworth said.
They realized one of the biggest changes that needed to be made when dealing with youth in the community was to include them in the decision-making process, she said.
“We’ve had fantastic community interest and involvement among the youth and the partners,” she said. “Because of the tight community of Hollister, we’ve made a lot of progress where the larger areas have not.”
San Benito County was not the lone recipient of the award, with about two-thirds of the other councils also receiving the award, Bosworth said.
But being supported and recognized for their endeavors is helpful in their constant work to develop systems that can change to meet the new needs of youth, she said.
“Each person on the Youth Employment Program has been an architect of change,” Bosworth said. “(The award) acknowledged that our hard work is going in the right direction, but it is not done. We have a long way to go.”
