Youth Empowerment Broadcasting Org

Our podcasting program aims to amplify the voices of BIPOC-identifying youth through podcasting and the art of storytelling. This program supports youth ages 14-24 years old with learning how to design and produce podcasts that call to their unique identities and explore the communities around them. Over the course of two semesters, the program served 18 high school students and 5 youth in their postsecondary experience by offering them techincal skills training, production workshops, and access to nessesary equipment and software need to create content. Youth participants were from high schools, homeschools, and community organizations based in Aurora and Denver, Colorado.

This program continued to partner with a local high school in Aurora, Colorado, to grow its exisiting Esports team and gaming initiative within the school. Building from the prior years work, our program recrutied 17 new students at our partner high school to collaboratate with learning scientists from the University of Colorado Boulder School of Education to learn how to build more inclusive and equitable gaming experiences for young people. This work was conducted over 4 months and included 4 students enrolling in a concurrent enrollment program at CU Boulder rooted in Critical Digital Pedgogies. This program was discontinued mid-year (Janurary) as our organization underwent shifts in our strategic vision, shifting to soley storytelling and podcasting-based intiatives.

Our digital streaming program supports high school aged youth with learning how to use their skills and practices in social media and streaming to create a sense of belonging and wellness in their lives and community. Through a semester-long elective at a local high school in Aurora, Colorado, we served 40 youth through techincal skills training workshops and critical theory classes that helped them anaylize and critique popular streamers and their content. Through this work, youth participants co-created with professional content creators streaming shows on and social media campaigns on Twitch and Youtube that aimed to grow a sense of belonging and wellness in themselves and their peers. This program was discontinued mid-year (Janurary) as our organization underwent shifts in our strategic vision, shifting to soley storytelling and podcasting-based intiatives.