YOUTHINK -- a bright glimpse into the future

By Chellie on May 12, 2008 1:59 PM

On Friday, May 9, I attended the first annual YOUTHINK summit. YOUTHINK is a youth-driven organization that mobilizes young people to use their voices and creativity to solve real problems. Their goal is to inspire and train forward-thinking leaders for now and the future -- and the organization is led by a great young executive director, Ainsley Newman Wallace.

High school students from around Portland came together at Keeleys Katerers to spend the day talking about issues that affect them. They shared their thoughts about what it is like to be a teenager in Portland: peer pressures; lack of places to go and things to do; and their aspirations for what they want to do after high school.

When I arrived during their lunch hour, I walked around and sat down at numerous tables to see what was on their minds. I met two young women, Naskeh Haibibi and Nabila Mohamed, both of whom immigrated to Portland when they were young children. Naskeh is originally from Iran and Nabila from Somalia. Their stories and insights were amazing -- I wish I could have heard the experiences of every young person in the room.

At another table, I encountered a few 17-year-old girls who voted for the first time in February at the caucuses. Their level of enthusiasm and knowledge was wonderful to see. They spoke about how Obama inspired them to get involved but said they were also excited that a woman was running for president.

While I'm sure YOUTHink is doing great things for the kids involved, the real beneficiaries will be the people of Portland and surrounding towns, who will have a bumper crop of leaders ready to take their communities into the future.