Youth Allies was started in 2006 by Earth Care as a way to engage local youth in the process of leadership and change-making. It began as a Leadership Institute offered in partnership with the Santa Fe Mountain Center's Native American Emergence Department and ENLACE for twenty-five youth from the four primary cultural groups of this area who worked together for nine months to learn about the cultural and natural history of the local community, how to promote cultural diversity and bridge cultural divides, and develop sustainability living practices in their own lives and in the community.

Since 2006, the program has grown into a multi-level training, organizing, and civic engagement program. It has reached over 500 youth – training them in leadership, cultural competency, ecological literacy and sustainable practices through service-learning, interactive workshops, youth-led sustainable community development projects, grassroots campaigns, and youth placements on nonprofit boards, grant review committees, and City commissions, task forces, and advisory boards. Each year we have listened to the feedback of the participants, evaluated the program’s outcomes as they relate to the systemic change we feel is so desperately needed at this time, and responded to the needs we see in the lives of the young people we serve and the communities they represent. Each year we have added program elements that address the different stages of development for both the youth and the community on their shared paths toward transformative change. The program's evolution has been guided by the question, “how can we empower youth to rebuild the cultural, economic, and ecological fabric of the community?” The program that has emerged is a model for both 21st century youth leadership development and sustainable community development.

Youth Allies is based on the following principles:

* Youth must be part of the decision-making processes that affect their lives.

Youth must be part of the decision-making and development processes that are shaping our society and their lives because they are disproportionately affected by the social and environmental issues of our time. When we look at issues such as global climate change, economic recession, and war, it is the youth’s future that is at stake. Furthermore, youth have important role to play in the creation of solutions to these issues as they bring new energy and new ways of seeing and being into the world. For this reason Youth Allies puts youth at the center of sustainable community development efforts by having members design projects, organize and educate the community through peer and public education campaigns and by creating opportunities for youth to sit at decision-making tables.

* In order to effectively participate in decision-making and sustainable community development, youth need training and support as well as transformative education that equips them with the knowledge, skills, and experience they need to tackle complex, interrelated issues and create holistic, sustainable solutions

Fundamentally rebuilding our social, economic, cultural, and ecological systems is no small task – for young people to meaningfully participate in this process, we believe they need training in effective communication, community-based research, critical and systems thinking, cultural competency and social justice, conflict resolution, ecological literacy, and sustainable living practices and technologies. • Youth leadership development must be fundamentally tied with social and economic justice, cultural diversity, and sustainability The next generation of leaders must understand how to design systems that are equitable and just, that promote diversity, and that work within ecological limits. We believe it is essential that the next generation of leaders is ecologically literate, knows how to work effectively across cultures to resolve conflicts and create solutions. Leadership needs to accurately reflect the diversity of the community. Therefore, Youth Allies trains youth from diverse backgrounds, particularly minority and low-income communities.

* Space for youth voices, leadership, and decision-making cannot be assumed but needs to be actively created.

It is not enough to train youth in leadership and decision-making because at this point there are few spaces for young people’s voices to be heard. Space at decision-making tables needs to be actively created for youth and youth need to be supported and mentored as they take leadership and initiative in the community. Therefore, Youth Allies works to develop youth seats on decision-making bodies and provides individualized support and mentorship to young leaders, activists, and decision-makers.