Youth Afterschool Ambassadors

ACT Now’s Youth Afterschool Ambassadors (YAA) is an 8-month leadership program where Illinois high schoolers will develop and build upon their advocacy skills.

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What is YAA?

YAA is ACT Now’s Youth Afterschool Ambassadors program, an advocacy training for Illinois high schoolers!

Through YAA, high school students from across Illinois learn about advocacy, public policy, and civic engagement while developing leadership and public speaking skills. Participants engage directly with policymakers and their school communities, attend advocacy trainings, and participate in ACT Now’s annual Advocacy Day at the Illinois State Capitol.

Since its inception three years ago, YAA has provided young people with meaningful opportunities to share their experiences and advocate for policies that support youth and communities.

Past Youth Afterschool Ambassadors have presented at ACT Now’s statewide conference, spoken at a rally with over 200 attendees, participated in press conferences and been featured on the news, and much more. Youth Afterschool Ambassadors have been instrumental in statewide advocacy and have successfully secured $14.5 million for afterschool programs statewide.

Meet This Year’s YAA Cohort

This year’s YAA application will open during National Summer Learning Week (July 6th-10th!)

FAQs

ACT Now’s Youth Afterschool Ambassadors (YAA) is an 8-month leadership program where Illinois high schoolers will develop and build upon their advocacy skills. Youth Afterschool Ambassadors will:

Join a network of youth afterschool ambassadors and connect with peers
Learn how to effectively communicate their afterschool experiences with elected officials
Gain advocacy tools to explore personal issues of importance

In Illinois, for every 1 youth enrolled in an afterschool or out-of-school time (OST) program, 3 more are waiting to get in. This means there are currently 856,853 youth without access to afterschool programs. We want to close this gap in Illinois!

Youth Afterschool Ambassadors will be advocating for afterschool programs across the entire state of Illinois and OST for All! Students will each take their own approach to their advocacy and may connect the importance of afterschool to other issues in their communities.

OST (Out-of-School Time) for All focuses on:

Supporting a continued investment in Out-of-School Time programs in Illinois
Ensuring efficient fund administration and best practices by creating an OST Council to foster collaboration among state agencies, legislators, community organizations, and other stakeholders
Support a continued investment in community schools
Expanding OST access by stabilizing and incrementally increasing state funding streams over the next 10 years

Selected youth council members will participate virtually for an hour and a half on the following meeting dates as well as attend ACT Now’s in-person Advocacy Day in April. Youth will also complete additional advocacy work between meetings. Note: YAA must participate in 75% of the sessions (equivalent to 9 full sessions) and the in-person Advocacy Day.

Sessions are Wednesday(s) from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Virtual Session #12 – May 5, 2027
Virtual Session #1 and Welcome – September 30, 2026
Virtual Session #2 – October 14, 2026
Virtual Session #3 – October 28, 2026
Virtual Session #4 -November 11, 2026
Virtual Session #5 – December 9, 2026
Virtual Session #6 – January 13, 2027
Virtual Session #7 – January 27, 2027
Virtual Session #8 – February 10, 2027
Virtual Session #9 – February 24, 2027
Virtual Session #10 – March 10, 2027
Virtual Session #11 – March 24, 2027
In-Person Advocacy Day Mid-April (Date TBD)
Virtual Session #12 – May 5, 2027

Every spring, ACT Now hosts an in-person Advocacy Day at the State Capitol in Springfield, Illinois. During this Advocacy Day, program providers, youth, and other supporters of afterschool, summer, and expanded learning programs join together to advocate for Illinois’ children and families.

Eligibility

Be enrolled in 9th to 12th grade.
Be a current participant of an afterschool program.
Must have a parent, guardian, or program provider available to chaperone Advocacy Day in April in Springfield, Illinois.
Access to reliable internet and Zoom.
Passion to advocate on the behalf of students across the state for afterschool programs for all!

The deadline to apply for this opportunity is September 9th, 2026 at 9:00 am CDT.

Please note that currently the Youth Afterschool Ambassadors program is only available in English.ACT Now forbids the use of AI in the application process. ACT Now reserves the right to not review applications that are suspected of using AI.

Not seeing the answer to your question on this page? Reach out to Elizabeth Hartnett at hartnette@actnowillinois.org.