Youth In Action is seeking a Director of Development. Click here to learn more.
Youth In Action's Health Education Team, Y.E.A.H., recently recieved a grant from Blue Cross & Blue Shield of RI to support their efforts. Click here to read more about the award and Y.E.A.H. Team.
This July Providence and Youth In Action were host to the Free Minds Free People Conference, a national gathering of more than 700 students, activists and educators. Click here to see a video of highlights from this great event, created by YIA's own Next Generation Media Team!
Adeola A. Oredola is the Executive Director of Youth In Action (YIA), like the youth YIA serves, Adeola grew up in a low-income neighborhood in Providence. She attended Providence Public Schools, then Brown University, and now lives in the Washington Park area of the city. As a product of the community in which she works, Adeola is truly dedicated to every aspect of youth and community development in Providence. “I know what it’s like to be a teenager in this community and what a difference it makes to have mentors and coaches who challenge you to define your own success despite your environment,” she said. “My heart lives in this work because I know how it has made a difference in my life.”
To date, YIA has reached more than 13,000 Providence youth with health education, violence prevention, youth produced media, academic mentoring, and community renovation projects. Ninety-six percent of YIA graduates have gone on to college. "Access to higher education is a huge need for youth in low-income communities," says Oredola. "I remember my own High School Advisor laughing at me and telling me 'not to bother' trying to go to college. When I finally got my acceptance letter from Brown University, I made sure to leave a copy on his desk!" But getting through the first few years of college was still a struggle for Adeola, coming from a school system that hadn't properly prepared her. She called on mentors and the support of her community to make it through. This one-on-one support, she says, is at the core of what YIA provides to young people.
At the age of 23 Adeola was the youngest person ever to serve on the Providence School Board, where for three years she worked to ensure that both youth and community members had a stronger voice in school policy initiatives. She has been YIA's Executive Director for the past 4 years, after serving as the Assistant Director for 4 years. Adeola has grown YIA from a small grass-roots organization into one that is nationally recognized and a force for community collaboration. She helped spearhead the Youth 4 Change Alliance - a collaborative between 4 youth-serving organizations in the City that engages youth in social change efforts (www.youth4change.org). She also led the organization in its successful application to be the host organization for the Free Minds Free People Conference - a national conference previously held in Chicago and Houston. The conference brought over 700 educators, students, and community leaders from all ages to Providence, to learn from each other and strategize around using education as a tool for eliminating disparities and creating a more just society. It's connecting youth in her home City to opportunities like these, where they can lead, network, and have a place at the local and national table when it comes to issues that affect them, that Adeola is most passionate about.
Adeola is now 31 and currently serves as a Board Member with AS220, the Women’s Fund of RI, and the Providence Plan. She was also recently awarded the distinct honor of being a 2011 RI Foundation fellow, which will allow her to travel to her home country of Nigeria to learn her family's native language and bring YIA's model to the international stage.
adeola@youthinactionri.org
T: 401.751.4264 x2
F: 401.751.1712
