{"id":29131,"date":"2025-04-24T09:04:23","date_gmt":"2025-04-24T16:04:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/?p=29131"},"modified":"2025-04-24T09:05:01","modified_gmt":"2025-04-24T16:05:01","slug":"la-juventud-debe-guiarnos-hacia-el-futuro","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/en\/la-juventud-debe-guiarnos-hacia-el-futuro\/","title":{"rendered":"Youth must lead us forward"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Over 85 young people from youth commissions in California gathered in Burlingame for the 2025 Spring Conference of the California Association of Youth Commissions (CAYC) \n(Photo Credit: Patricia Braunstein)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Yakira Braunstein (Student Contributor). Peninsula 360 Press<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cYouth are the key to the future,\u201d was a theme repeated throughout the day.<\/span><\/p>\n

On Saturday, April 19, the California Association of Youth Commissions<\/a> (CAYC) held its inaugural spring conference at the Burlingame Community Center, bringing youth commissioners from all over California together to collaborate about issues facing society and youth today.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dozens of speakers, from elected officials to educators and other community leaders, addressed over 85 youth leaders with messages designed to educate and encourage youth to take action<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEvery single day there is an opportunity to do something,\u201d said Rep. Kevin Mullin, D-CA. \u201cMany social movements have been led by young people, such as the Civil Rights Movement.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Members of the CAYC, register youth at the 2025 Spring Conference \n(Photo Credit: Patricia Braunstein)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The conference was organized by CAYC student founders Anya Dalal and Rohan Dalal, alongside a steering committee in an effort to bring together members of youth commissions throughout the state.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been planning this conference for a long time \u2013 I\u2019m really happy to be able to bring young people together to connect and make an impact on California \u2013 we have lots of speakers and new ideas, and such great energy in the room,\u201d said Anya Dalal, Co-Founder of the CAYC.<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the goals of the conference was to get young people together to learn how to start youth commissions if their city doesn\u2019t have one.<\/span><\/p>\n

While many cities and counties around California have youth commissions, including the cities of Belmont, San Carlos, Redwood City, and San Mateo County, not all cities do.<\/span><\/p>\n

Senior Rohan Dalal worked with Hillsborough City Council Member Leslie Ragsdale to put together a youth council with his sister. \u201cIt took a long time and there was a lot to learn. Part of this conference is to provide that help to those seeking to create a commission,\u201d said Dalal.<\/span><\/p>\n

The conference offered a high-powered lineup of elected officials from all levels of government.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Congressman Mullin addressed youth commission members and answered student questions about issues such as voting rights and climate change. \n(Photo Credit: Patricia Braunstein)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Congressman Kevin Mullin updated the youth leaders on the climate in Washington, including an update on the SAVE Act, Republican sponsored legislation aimed at tightening voter registration requirements.<\/span><\/p>\n

Following his report, youth commissioners asked questions about issues of concern.<\/span><\/p>\n

In response to a student's question about lowering the voting age to 16, Congressman Mullin replied, \u201cIt will be up to you to show that this model could work or not.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Another youth attendee asked his thoughts on climate change and the effect of sea-level rise on the Bay Area.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to make sure communities are working together so that one action doesn\u2019t affect another community negatively. We are all going to be affected. We need to especially help lower-income communities and get them resilient. When the more extreme weather comes, we need to be strengthened. It doesn\u2019t matter what your politics are, we are all going to be affected by climate change,\u201d said Mullin.<\/span><\/p>\n

Other speakers and panels addressed issues pertinent to other issues important to youth, including social media and the digital world, AI, mental health and wellness for teens, and cultural pride.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Speakers address youth as part of a panel on empowering youth minds \u2013 how to support middle and elementary students. (Photo Credit: Patricia Braunstein)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Michelle Droz, Co-Founder of the San Mateo API foundation speaks on cultural pride in an afternoon breakout session. (Photo Credit: Patricia Braunstein)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Chris Field, a leader and educator with the Addiction Education Society (AES) addresses youth as part of a panel on teen wellness and mental health. (Photo Credit: Patricia Braunstein)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Speaker Chris Field was part of a panel on Teen health and mental health issues. Field works with the Addiction Education Society (AES), a non-profit organization in San Mateo County that provides education to local schooal about addiction.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis conference for youth leaders is so important - it gives young people a voice and the chance to effect change in their community and socially,\u201d said Field.<\/span><\/p>\n

The presenters resonated with Revant Dadoo, a youth commissioner from Redwood City:, \n\u201cI want to learn about how I can become an active member of society as a teen,\u201d said Dadoo.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Revant Dadoo from Redwood City listens intently to the speakers as they answer questions and inform youth commissioners from throughout the state. \n(Photo Credit: Patricia Braunstein)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The conference was motivating to the youth commissioners in attendance.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHearing from the speakers was a privilege and a reinforcement of what our youth commissions are working towards\u2013equal opportunity, community engagement, and elevation of everyone\u2019s voices,\u201d said Jonah Gatoff, Secretary of the Hillsborough Youth Commission.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ella Roslansky, a youth commissioner from Hillsborough, enjoyed the networking. \u201cOne of the most important parts of the CAYC conference is meeting with the other commissioners. It allows us to share ideas and strengthen each individual commission,\u201d said Roslansky.<\/span><\/p>\n

The messages from throughout the day made it clear that there are great hopes for youth to lead the way.<\/span><\/p>\n

You may be interested in:<\/strong> \u00c1rboles para una escuela: combatiendo el calentamiento global y la injusticia social en North Fair Oaks<\/a><\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Por Yakira Braunstein (colaboraci\u00f3n estudiantil). Pen\u00ednsula 360 Press. “La juventud es la clave del futuro” fue un tema que se repiti\u00f3 a lo largo del d\u00eda. El s\u00e1bado 19 de abril, la Asociaci\u00f3n de Comisiones Juveniles de California (CAYC, por sus siglas en ingl\u00e9s) realiz\u00f3 su conferencia inaugural de primavera en el Centro Comunitario de […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":29135,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,317],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-29131","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-community","8":"category-cover-2"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29131","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29131"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29131\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29140,"href":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29131\/revisions\/29140"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29135"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peninsula360press.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}