Youth Initiatives aims to develop the analytic, research, and self-expression skills that young people need to think critically about their world and to engage actively in U.S. democracy. The two main components are youth media and urban debate. In addition, the initiative seeks to advance opportunities and resources for youth through initiatives for school reform and after-school programs.

Perhaps no single group in society is as marginalized and vilified, blamed and even feared, as low-income young people of color. Despite falling juvenile crime rates, the perception remains that young people continue to be a threat to U.S. society. In the education and criminal justice systems, such thinking has led to increased zero-tolerance policies, which have had detrimental effects on the most vulnerable youths. Yet young people are an enormous resource to society for seeking solutions to pressing social issues and creating social change.

Youth Initiatives works to integrate low-income youth into the democratic process by supporting strategies that develop advocacy, self-expression, and critical-thinking skills. The program’s key strategies in this regard are youth-generated media and formal debate. In addition, OSI is a partner in an initiative that seeks to improve education by restructuring low-performing high schools and developing small, effective learning environments.