by Colleen McCarthy

Youth as City Leaders, a youth-centered, interactive Web venue, now offers young people involved in local government an even broader range of opportunities to learn from and network with their peers in other cities.

The website, which is located at www.nlc.org/iyef/youth_as_city_leaders or can be accessed by clicking ?Youth as City Leaders? in the left hand menu box at www.nlc.org/iyef, was created by NLC?s Institute for Youth, Education, and Families (YEF Institute). It contains many new features, including:

? Interviews with members of city youth councils who are changing the face of local elections in their communities;

? A contest to rename the website, with three youth finalists eligible to receive subsidies for travel expenses to NLC conferences; and

? Discussion forums, blogs and a project to compile information on youth councils from across the country.

Youth Election Activities
Youth can now log onto the website and read about various efforts by youth leaders to broaden participation in election activities this fall. For instance, voters in Casper, Wyo., will notice some new faces at local polling places this November: high school students. Youth election judges, ages 16 to18, will work side by side with adults to open and close the polls, distribute ballots, answer voters? questions and tally results.

Casper?s Youth Empowerment Council, which is made up of secondary school students, worked with city, county and state leaders to win the passage of state legislation allowing young people to work as election judges.

The website also focuses on Cambridge, Mass., where the Cambridge Kids? Council Youth Involvement Subcommittee (YIS), has worked with city, school and state officials on a campaign to lower the voting age to 17 for local municipal elections.

In response to research and an order prepared by the Cambridge YIS, the Cambridge City Council requested a home rule petition from the state to lower the voting age for municipal elections in the city.

?If young people are given the right to vote at 17, they will have the interest, and will feel empowered to make change in the community,? said Juliana Maynard of the Cambridge YIS in an interview with the YEF Institute.

Website Naming Contest
The YEF Institute has also announced the ?Call It Your Own? naming contest for the Youth as City Leaders website, with up to $500 in expenses paid for each of the three youth finalists to attend to the Congressional City Conference in Washington, D.C., from March 11-15, 2007.

The winning young person will receive national recognition through a photo and story in Nation?s Cities Weekly. In addition, local news media and top city officials in the winner?s hometown will be notified and encouraged to recognize his or her achievement.

Youth ideas for a new website name are due by Friday, Nov. 10 to fellow@nlc.org. Ideas will be posted on the Youth as City Leaders website so that youth can vote to determine the three finalists.

More Website Highlights
The Youth as City Leaders website now also features:

? YourSpace, discussion forums;

? Blog It, blog entries written by youth leaders; and

? Connect, a new YEF Institute project to map youth councils in cities all over the country.

Details: Questions and youth-related news can be sent to Colleen McCarthy at (202) 626-3014 or fellow@nlc.org.