PATCH Youth Advocacy Fellowship
The Wisconsin PATCH Youth Advocacy Fellowship empowers young people, ages 12-21, to grow as leaders and young activists by making their voices heard in community and state level conversations. The Fellowship spans the course of 9-months (September –May) with continual engagement and learning via paid enrichment meetings, individual learning modules, and the development of an individual Community Advocacy Project. Youth Advocates also serve as consultants, bringing youth voice to the projects and initiatives of individuals, organizations, and systems working to improve adolescent health throughout Wisconsin.
PATCH Youth Advocacy Fellowship Recognized as a Promising Practice in 2020!
LOOKING TO REPLICATE?
PATCH® enjoys consulting with others interested in youth engagement work and are currently developing a replication package to support those interested in creating an effective, statewide youth advisory board.
WANTING YOUTH INPUT?
From small to large projects, PATCH Youth Advocates provide critical feedback and perspective, and they act as consultants on relevant projects, programs, campaigns, and efforts.
“I feel like PATCH sparked a fire within me. I feel motivated and inspired to make lasting change in my life. I am so thankful for this past year and I am eager to bring in my knowledge from PATCH with me to college and beyond.” - PATCH Youth Advocate
“When I was working for PATCH I was pushed out of my comfort zone to try new things, to advocate for myself and the things I believe in. I am such an introvert, but I learned that my opinions matters and I should work hard to put my opinions out there.” - PATCH Youth Advocate
“Working with PATCH® has given the Maternal and Child Health Program a greater understanding the needs of Wisconsinites. They consistently give thoughtful, insightful feedback and input to all of our questions which has shaped the goals of our programming.”-State-level partner working in Title V MCH program
“Having input from the youth advocates during our root cause analysis for the youth health transition NPM was beyond valuable and guided us back on course.” -State-level partner working on CYSCHN efforts
“Working with the Youth Advocates was extremely valuable. It allowed us to get constructive feedback from our intended audience which greatly improved our final deliverable.”-State-level partner working in Injury Prevention