YES Nature to Neighborhoods

In partnership with nature, YES nurtures leaders who champion the wellbeing of our community. Our vision is for Richmond youth, adults, and families to lead healthy, connected lives; motivate change in their neighborhoods; and inspire a safe, thriving community.

YES’s programming is strategically aligned within a Leadership Pathways model designed to increase opportunities for Richmond youth and adults to connect to the outdoors and receive year-round leadership training and support. YES’s model includes a Youth and an Adult Leadership Pathway, which move participants along a continuum of development to become successful community leaders, health advocates, and change-makers.

The Youth Leadership Pathway is a ten-year pipeline from childhood through young adulthood that leads youth from a week of Summer Camp to year-round participation in YES's Camp-to-Community teen program. The pathway supports older teens through a fellowship track designed to help them graduate high school and attend college and/or acquire a meaningful job. The overarching goals of the pathway are for youth to develop the skills and traits to become successful young adults, and to create a cadre of youth leaders in the Richmond community.

The Adult Leadership Pathway increases the successful engagement of Richmond adults as community leaders and health advocates by supporting Richmond adults ages 21 and over to participate in the year-round Adult Leaders Program as well as YES’s Family Camp weekend retreats.

Short-, Mid-, and Long-Term Outcomes Include:
•Increased meaningful cross-cultural, peer, family, intergenerational, and institutional relationships
•Increased sense of belonging
•Increased connection to nature
•Improved wellness
•Increased support / strengthened social ties
•Increased stewardship of nature
•Increased positive identity and self-efficacy
•Increased navigation as a result of strengthened communities
•Increased ability to navigate healthy and unhealthy social pressures
•Increased YES participant and partner presence in a range of community roles (such as sitting on a school board)
•Increased Healthy Social and Family Relationships
•Increased Economic Self-Sufficiency
•Increased Contribution to Community
•Increased Community Capacity
•Improved Community Conditions

YES’s programs create safe spaces and progressive opportunities - locally and in wilderness settings - which provide the support needed for participants to develop their voices and capabilities as empowered leaders, health advocates, and environmental stewards.

YES’s programming is rooted in research-informed design and promotes an evidence-based approach to programming. Three research-backed strategies - building relationships, developing healthy leaders and strengthening community - serve as the foundation for programming and guide the agency’s decision-making. These three strategies build upon each other to bring the positive benefits of experiences in nature back to the local communities in which participants live.

Components of the building relationships strategy include:
• Cross-cultural, peer, and cross-generational relationship building in nature and in neighborhoods
• Facilitated discovery experiences and ongoing activities with nature
• Training and skill-building focused on interpersonal development
• Regular interaction with peer role models, community leaders, and a range of community agencies
• Promotion and modeling of physical and emotional safety
• Formal and informal staff support

Components of the developing healthy leaders strategy include:
• Participant choice in activities, workshops, projects, and explorations
• Progressive opportunities to take on new roles, and get out of one’s comfort zone
• Ongoing skill-based workshops and trainings
• Peer leadership programming and opportunities
• Integrated wellness curriculum
• Rituals for recognition and reflection
• Meaningful engagement and contribution in program planning
• Supportive employment opportunities

Components of the strengthening community strategy include:
• Community-focused trainings, events, and workshops
• Introduction to resources - including local transportation, other service providers, and health and wellness programs
• Regular day outings, partner, and school events
• Participation in and/or leadership of community-based projects, campaigns, and committees
• Collective impact efforts and serving as the backbone organization for the North Richmond Network

YES’s unique focus on meaningful, long-term relationships allows us to build trust and a sense of belonging – two essential ingredients for our participants to challenge themselves and take safe risks in new environments. When that happens, bonds form across cultures and generations; our participants embrace nature as a refuge and a place they belong; and people of all ages and life experiences emerge as strong leaders in our community. YES builds and nourishes resident leaders with the skills, resources, and confidence to work toward a just society and a sustainable environment.

YES’s staff of ten and our 13 board members are ethnically diverse and have decades of combined experience serving Richmond youth and families. Eight staff members live in and/or are from Richmond and surrounding West Contra Costa County, and six are bilingual in Spanish and English. Executive Director Eric Aaholm is a graduate of the 2013-14 East Bay LeaderSpring cohort for nonprofit executive directors. Blanca Hernández, YES Program Director, is a member of the Healthy Richmond Executive Committee and also a graduate of CompassPoint’s Next Generation Leaders of Color class.

YES has a track record of financial and programmatic stability. The agency was built on a foundation of individual donors and maintains significant grassroots contributions from over 750 donors annually. YES has well-established partnerships with over 25 foundations, over 45 businesses, and several in-kind partners, most notably the East Bay Regional Park District who provides staffing for some C2C, Camp Day, and Richmond Rangers activities.

In 2015, YES aligned our four youth programs and two adult programs with a Leadership Pathways model, and has sinced completed the goals of our 2015-2019 Strategic Plan for number of youth reached, number of engagements throughout the year, and increased mentorship and career pathways support. We regularly meet and exceed our objectives for youth and adult participants annually, and are now restructuring our evaluations program to recognize and work towards milestones for participants along their leadership journey with YES over time.

At the close of our 20th year in operation, we are setting ourselves to the task of finalizing this evaluations restructuring, completing our 10-year Youth Leadership Pathway curriculum, developing an alumni network for youth participants after age 18, and bringing mental health supports into our work, which is often a barrier to our youth and families in fully accessing and benefiting from our programs.