“Lending a Hand” with Facebook
The Facebook Youth Council Program partners with youth interested in affecting positive change and teaches them how to harness the power of social media to create that change. The Council partnered with participants from CYC’s Bayview Youth Advocates (BYA) program and under their guidance educated them in using social media to engage in meaningful civic engagement. Over a series of workshops, youth learned about the critical tools and framework needed to conduct an effective social media campaign from start to finish. The final part of the workshop was a presentation in front of Supervisor Shamann Walton, President of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.
The series of workshops empowered BYA youth activists and gave them a platform to address issues they are most concerned about that are affecting them as residents of the Bayview community. Issues important to the youth included homelessness, AAPI hate, free quality education, and social justice. Youth combined these issues along with the knowledge they learned under Facebook to extend the reach of a youth-led project of their choosing – “Lending a Hand.”
“Lending a Hand” is BYA’s vision to create social change through a community digital gallery. Working along with other youth activists from 3rd Street Youth Center and Clinic and Bayview Magic, the gallery explores those particular issues important to youth living in the Bayview. Youth were able to use social media to increase the impact of their advocacy work and also strengthen their leadership skills as future community leaders. BYA encourages everyone to visit and explore the gallery to hear their voices come to life.