YEF Institute Mission and Staff

Our Mission

The Institute for Youth, Education, and Families (YEF Institute), a special entity within the National League of Cities (NLC), helps municipal leaders take action on behalf of the children, youth, and families in their communities.  NLC launched the YEF Institute in January 2000 in recognition of the unique and influential roles that mayors, city councilmembers, and other local leaders can play in strengthening families and improving outcomes for children and youth.

Responsive to municipal leaders on a wide range of issues, the YEF Institute focuses on five core program areas:

• Education and afterschool
• Youth development
• Early care and education
• Safety of children and youth
• Family economic success

The YEF Institute is a national resource, providing guidance and assistance to municipal officials, compiling and disseminating information on promising strategies and best practices, building networks of local officials working on similar issues and concerns, and conducting research on the key challenges facing municipalities in these core program areas.  It collaborates with a broad range of national partners and works with the nation's 49 state municipal leagues to reach local officials in up to 19,000 cities and towns across America.

Municipal Leadership for America's Children Youth, and Families: Celebrating Five Years of the YEF Institute (2005)

This publication is the fifth anniversary report of NLC's Institute for Youth, Education, and Families (YEF Institute).

Since it was founded in 2000, the YEF Institute has become an indispensable national resource for mayors, city councilmembers, and other municipal leaders. This report describes how the Instiute makes the case for municipal leadership, supports local action, connects people and places, and raises the profile of municipal leaders as key problem-solvers.
Download the Report »
Watch a 5-minute video about the YEF Institute »

YEF Institute Staff

Staff Contact List »  

Strategies and Tools

Through the YEF Institute, municipal officials have direct access to a broad array of strategies and tools that can help them strengthen families and enhance the well-being of children and youth:

• Action kits, strategy guides, lessons learned reports, and other publications offer a menu of practical steps that officials can take to address key problems or challenges.
  
• Technical assistance projects in selected communities provide in-depth help to municipal leaders who are committed to taking action on behalf of children and families.  Current projects focus on high school reform, gang prevention, afterschool programs, asset building, school readiness, reengaging disconnected youth, childhood obesity, and youth master planning.
  
• Partnerships with state municipal leagues provide articles on key topics of concern to league members, workshops on children and family issues at annual conventions, and other partnerships that benefit city officials.
  
• NLC's Summit on Your City's Families and other workshops, training sessions, and cross-city meetings highlight best practices and promising city innovations.
  
• Targeted research and periodic surveys of local officials fill critical gaps in the nation's knowledge of the challenges facing cities and towns. 
  
• Peer networks, learning communities, audioconferences, and e-mail listservs help officials stay connected to their peers in other communities and easily share information on progress, pitfalls, and lessons learned.

NLC's Council on Youth, Education, and Families

The YEF Institute is the product of extensive planning and development by an NLC committee composed of local elected officials, representatives of major national organizations and corporations, and young people - all sharing a particular interest in the welfare of the nation's children, youth, and families. 

This Council on Youth, Education, and Families (YEF Council) created the initial vision of a special place within NLC that would serve as a national resource for municipal leaders, and it continues to guide and oversee the YEF Institute's work.
Learn more about the YEF Council »

Our Supporters

Financial support for the YEF Institute is provided by the National League of Cities and by foundations and agencies seeking to improve outcomes for children, youth, and families.  Current and past funders include the:

• Annie E. Casey Foundation
• Broad Foundation
• California Wellness Foundation
• California Endowment
• Carnegie Corporation of New York
• Edna McConnell Clark Foundation
• Corporation for National Service
• Freddie Mac Foundation
• Ford Foundation
• Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
• William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
• Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
• Joyce Foundation
• A. L. Mailman Family Foundation
• MetLife Foundation
• Charles Stewart Mott Foundation
• David and Lucile Packard Foundation
• Rockefeller Foundation
• U.S. Department of Justice
• The Wallace Foundation
• Walter S. Johnson Foundation

Get Connected to the YEF Institute

By registering with the YEF Institute, municipal officials will receive access to networks of colleagues sharing their interests, e-mail updates on noteworthy developments, immediate notices of new publications and resources, invitations to participate in meetings and activities, and opportunities to share their successful programs and learn from the successes of others.

To register with the YEF Institute to receive periodic mailings and email newsletters about various YEF tools and resources, download the YEF Registration Form as a .pdf file and mail or fax it back to us using the instructions on the form. 

| YEF Institute Home | About Us | Events and Audioconferences | Publications and Resources |
| Peer Networks | Technical Assistance | Summit on Your City's Families | YEF Council |

| Early Childhood Success | Education and Afterschool | Youth Development |
| Family Economic Success | Safety of Children and Youth |