About Us

Mission
Youthnetwork.org is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping people find youth programs and services in their communities. Our goal is to provide information about every community resource for youth nationwide. In pursuit of our mission, we have built the largest directory of youth programs in the country. Today, our website features information about more than a million listings. We strengthen communities by connecting young people, parents, teachers, and mentors to local assets such as schools, parks, libraries, and community centers. Moreover, everybody can participate in building our website by sharing information about local youth programs, which we review prior to publication. The result is an innovative social enterprise that combines advanced technology with a commitment to serving young people in rural towns and urban cities across the country.

Milestones
We have celebrated many milestones over the past year. We formed a board of directors, and obtained startup funding. We built the website from scratch, adding over a million listings and developing unique features such as maps, directions, public transit, email a friend, send to mobile phone, save to address book, save to GPS, save to iPod, search by keyword and location, search by directory, view in Google Earth, and more. We attended major conferences including Search Institute’s “Healthy Communities Healthy Youth” conference, National League of Cities’ “National Summit on Your City’s Families” conference, and the Grantmakers for Children, Youth, and Families 2007 Annual Conference. Recently, our website was featured in “Youth Today” newspaper, and our application was named a winner of the Global Young Social Entrepreneurs’ Competition.

Leadership
Meet Founder and Executive Director Brandon Bruce and our twelve-member Board of Directors.

Background
As an advocate for runaway and homeless youth in California, Founder Brandon Bruce became frustrated that he couldn’t find a comprehensive source of information about local programs and services for young people. He wanted a service he could use to look up the location of the nearest shelter, the telephone number for the recreation center, the hours of operation for the library, the directions to the park, and the eligibility requirements of the afterschool program. He asked everybody he knew in the youth service field where he could find such a reference. People who worked in the areas of program referral, direct service, and social policy all said the same thing: A one-stop clearinghouse of information about community resources for youth did not exist, but such a service would make a big difference in the lives of young people in cities and towns around the country. Brandon began to research the idea of a network of community resources for youth. He decided to build a website with a nationwide directory of youth programs. He developed the website based on three ideas. First, the network should be open to everybody and available 24/7. Second, it should be easy to use. Third, it should draw upon the knowledge of the community by inviting everybody to add and update information about local youth programs and services. Today, the website combines the power of technology with the power of community to serve thousands of people across the country.

Partnership
We have many partners including major nonprofit organizations such as America’s Promise and Big Brothers Big Sisters. We are reaching out to government agencies, information and referral networks, faith communities, business associations, and nonprofit organizations to develop and promote our website. We also have exciting local, national, and global projects in the pipeline. Locally, we are working with the Center for Strong Communities at Maryville College to gather information about youth programs in Blount County. We will integrate the information into our directory to benefit the local community and to serve as a model for other communities nationwide. Nationally, we are collaborating with the Forum for Youth Investment to develop the Ready by 21 Landscape Mapping Project, a nationwide survey of youth programs. We are developing a comprehensive survey and advanced reporting tools in order to evaluate and improve how communities serve young people. Globally, we will launch a Canadian version of the website in early 2008. Additionally, the Global Knowledge conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia presents a unique opportunity to collaborate with social entrepreneurs from around the world, and expand the website into a global directory of youth programs. View a list of our partners and learn how your organization can participate.

Updates
Recent blog updates:

Newsletter
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Donate
Support the website by making a tax-deductible donation. youthnetwork.org is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization.

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