Leadership Youth Explosion set for April

Staff report

Youngstown

The 2012 Leadership Youth Explosion, an event designed to empower local youths to assume leadership roles, has been officially scheduled for 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 21 at Youngstown State University’s Kilcawley Center.

The program will include empowerment seminars, celebrity guest speakers and opportunities for participants to volunteer for leadership positions within 40 companies. Organizers indicated they are seeking additional partners for the program.

The youth leadership project was developed by the Mahoning Valley Youth Task Force, a coalition of local organizations, with ACTION, a faith-based organizing group, serving as its fiscal agent.

The project will serve about 500 youths between age 12 and 24, and participants will benefit from workshops led by community partners.

The project’s goal is to place at least 100 young people in leadership and advisory positions within local businesses and organizations.

The progress of participants will be tracked over a 20-month period.

“It is vital to link businesses with our youth here in the Mahoning Valley, so that they can become aware of the full range of opportunities available to them,” said state Sen. Joe Schiavoni of Canfield, D-33rd, who is scheduled to speak at the event.

“Programs like this can prove invaluable to young people as they set out to lay the groundwork for their future,” he said.

Schiavoni will be joined by other high-profile speakers, including motivational speaker William “Guy” Burney; Youngstown Clerk of Courts Sarah Brown Clark; leadership trainer and inspirational speaker Dave Kohout; sportswriter and author David Lee Morgan; business leader Walter “Buzz” Pishkur; and state Sen. Nina Turner, D-25th.

Also scheduled to appear at the event are area-based musical artists Kenny Ali, Diamond Nicole and the Main Attraction Dancers.

Recruitment and transportation for the event will be conducted with the cooperation of community partners including YSU, the Boys and Girls Club, Habitat for Humanity, Heartreach Inc., Humility of Mary Health Partners, Jack and Jill, Mahoning and Columbiana Training Association, the Ohio State University Extension, OHWOW!, Sojourn to the Past and Upward Bound.

Those interested in more information on the 2012 Leadership Youth Explosion should contact Andrea Mahone, city youth director, at 330-716-3414; or ACTION Executive Director Rose Carter at 330-782-7433.