Our Community: Why YPI?
Teens Learn How Philanthropy Can Impassion Them and Transform a Community
Most teens don’t devote three years of their young lives to studying a problem and coming up with solutions. But the teens involved in the Youth Philanthropy Initiative (YPI) are doing just that. While most of their friends and classmates are consuming the media every day, the YPI teens are identifying how the media images and messages are affecting their peers’ self-perception.
The YPI was founded in 2004 by the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Foundation. It is a three-year program where a group of selected young people in Oklahoma choose a problem currently faced by youth, then work to address it. YPI is designed to teach teenagers about philanthropy and problem-solving in ways that benefit the community.
“The problem [we choose] is usually inadequately addressed or not addressed at all,” YPI member and Jenks High School Junior Grant Marcoux explained. “There are 18 teens involved in YPI from several high schools. Our two co-facilitators, Adam Seaman, a corporate coach and strategic consultant, and Olivia Snellgrove, a member of YPI Cohort 1 and a student at OSU, oversee the cohort and aid us in achieving our goal for our project.”
Grant said the group picked The Media’s Effect on Teen Self-Perception as their topic because they felt that teens are constantly being bombarded with harmful images and advertisements that encourage destructive behavior.
“Adolescents are unaware of the media’s true workings,” Grant said, “and continue to buy into their project and superficial ideals. [Our] project, Unmask, is aimed at educating adolescents about the media’s true workings (removing the mask), while aiding in creating a more media-aware youth. We hope to make a big impact on this generation and how they view and consume media.”
One project that the YPI teens, or Cohort3, as they call themselves, have already done is a partnership with OU-Tulsa. In February, OU’s Seed Sower free community lecture series addressed the topic of Teen Media Perception with a series of three lectures conducted by health professionals and a YPI teen panel.
The group has also launched a Web site www.projectunmask.com designed to give other teens more information about the Unmask movement, and to keep them updated on current projects.
In March, YPI will be giving presentations at various middle and high schools in Tulsa.
“We will also be spreading the word about our scholarship offer,” Grant said, “which is included in our school presentations. Participants will be asked to write an essay about how the media has affected their lives in a negative or positive way.”
Grant said that the YPI experience has impacted his life in a positive way, and other members feel the same.
“One of the most important things that the whole cohort has learned from being involved in YPI is how to recognize our strengths and weaknesses, and use them to our best abilities. One of the best things about being involved with YPI is how we are treated as equals among adults and not doubted in our abilities or commitment.
“I want people to know how much the teens involved care about the topic they have chosen and the well-being of their peers,” Grant added. “We have put much work into Unmask, and want to make sure that we succeed in obtaining our goal for this project. Youth Philanthropy has really increased my passion for philanthropy and taught me how I can be of service to this world.”
