October 2018                                            e Newsletter
Dear Friends,

We couldn't be more excited to kick off our 20 th year connecting Richmond youth and families with the great outdoors and with opportunities to learn, grow, and lead! Just as we celebrate our participants' new experiences out on the trail, YES is celebrating many new things as we start the 2018-19 program year. In this newsletter, you can:

  • Hear about YES's newly envisioned Adult Leaders Program - launched just two weeks ago.

  • Follow Kelsey, YES community member extraordinaire, as she hikes across New Zealand and raises funds for YES.

  • Meet our three newest staff members as YES grows and thrives.

  • Save the date to support YES on Giving Tuesday, and join us as we celebrate the spirit of generosity in a new way.

Most Sincerely,
Eric Aaholm, Executive Director
New Adult Leaders Program Launches
YES is thrilled to announce the launch of our newly envisioned Adult Leaders Program!

Over the last year, YES staff, board members, participants, and community members came together under the strong leadership of a team from the California School-Age Consortium to assess the strengths and opportunities for improvement of our Adult Leadership Pathway. Upon completion of the new program design, YES hired an Adult Leaders Coordinator and began spreading the word recruiting participants.
Now, 25 Richmond adults with a rich variety of backgrounds, ages, and experiences are officially signed up as our first Adult Leaders cohort. They will spend the next six months engaged in workshops, community building, training, goal setting, and mentorship designed to nurture and develop their skill and experience in effecting positive change for themselves, their families, and their community.
Adult Leaders Coordinator Angelica Delgado says she brings to her work at YES " a public health, social justice, and equity lens. I believe in having safe and honest conversations that trace and acknowledge the root causes of discrimination and historical marginalization in this country, and how that has translated into trauma and chronic stress that is experienced on a day-to-day basis. Losing a loved one to gun violence in Richmond in the early 90's, and witnessing the impact that tragedy had on my family and well-being, really made me think about how other people in my community are also affected by neighborhood violence. Poverty, unemployment, educational inequity, and discrimination can also negatively affect an entire community's health. Building resident leadership around all these issues is important to me because the community is the expert and our own leadership can bring about the maximum impact, and most lasting change."

Follow Kelsey Across New Zealand
Hiking the Long Path to Support YES Youth on Their Paths
Kelsey Radmilovic, longtime YES staff member and current Family Camp guide, is setting off on a new adventure! Over the next five months, she'll be backpacking across New Zealand on the famed 3,000km Te Araroa - "The Long Pathway." Along the way, she will raise much-needed funds for YES's Camp-to-Community program.

Kelsey says, "In determining my "why" for this trek, my heart helped me decide to hike this path in honor of the teens who are engaged in YES's Youth Leadership Pathway, and are dedicated to success on their personal journeys."
Meet Our Newest Team Members
Joanna Pulido
Youth Engagement Specialist
Pearl Penumaka
Development Assistant
Angelica Delgado
Adult Leaders Coordinator
YES is growing, and we are pleased to introduce our newest staff members, each of whom provides vital support and increased capacity to our work and programs.

Joanna Pulido joins our Youth Leadership Pathway team as Youth Engagement Specialist, with a particular focus on facilitating the Youth Engagement Team. She is passionate about soccer, cooking, and health education, and has worked with many youth-serving Richmond organizations and at Richmond High School. In addition to her work with YES, she is pursuing a community health educator certification.

Pearl Penumaka has spent the last six years working with Bay Area non-profits in the areas of arts, science, and informal education, as well as teaching and human rights work abroad. She brings her dedication and skill to the role of Development Assistant, helping to bolster YES's fundraising efforts and keep our programs fully supported.

A fourth-generation Richmond resident, Angelica Delgado's lived experience, love, and passion for the Richmond community combine powerfully with her extensive education focused on public and community health as she steps into the role of Adult Leaders Coordinator at YES.

Save the Date for #GivingTuesday: 11/27/18
Giving Tuesday is a world-wide day of giving to support the work you care about. Please save the date and donate to YES on Giving Tuesday, November 27th, 2018. For that one day only, your donation to YES will be matched by our generous board of directors - doubling the impact of your gift! Your generosity makes YES's work possible!
We are asking YES staff and board members what generosity looks like in their lives, families, and cultures, and the impact of generosity on our work here at YES.

YES Board member Jean Hyams is kicking off our fall celebration of generosity with this reflection: "Some years back, the adults in my family decided to stop giving each other material presents and, instead, to make donations to the organizations that we each cherish. Doing this became a gift of its own because it taught us so much about how and where the spirit of generosity moves each of us. YES holds a central place for me because when I give to YES, I feel like I am seeding the future with leaders who will make a difference."

Click here to email us your thoughts on the spirit of generosity - we just might post what you share on social media between now and New Year's eve!
YES Nature to Neighborhoods |(510) 232-3032 | www.yesfamilies.org