Who is NAYYAA?
We seek to ensure that all young people have equitable pathways into adulthood.
About NAYYAA
The Structural Challenge
"For decades, the United States has not had an integrated or comprehensive vision for the transition to adulthood and how youth and young adults pursue their goals, achieve stability, and create the lives that they want. We know what young people need, that proven programs can fill in gaps, and that the American public is anxious about the fate of our youth. Though the COVID-19 pandemic has opened a policy window for considering solutions of comprehensive scale, youth and young adults have not benefited."
Mission & Vision
Grounding our work in youth-centered systems change, NAYYAA acts to close this systemic gap. We are completely committed to ensuring that youth and young adult advocates have accessible pathways to actively participate in policy and advocacy.
Formation & NYEC Partnership
NAYYAA serves as an integrated, dedicated voice platform within the broader National Youth Employment Coalition (NYEC) ecosystem. Our structure amplifies youth voices, connects advocates, and provides actionable tools for leadership and workforce engagement across the country to construct the comprehensive vision our youth deserve.
The National Alliance of Youth and Young Adult Advocates will focus on four major areas of work:
Identifying more authentic and positive narratives about young people.
Filling data and research gaps related to young people.
Advancing a bold policy agenda that will create opportunities for and remove barriers to young people’s success.
“Adolescence is a critical time when youth begin their journey into adulthood; it’s a time that includes the exploration of passions and what they want to do with their lives and careers. However, due to a variety of systemic barriers, too many young people lack access to and agency over their pathways into adulthood, resulting in limited opportunities to attain economic security and financial freedom. With the help of the National Alliance, we hope to bring organizations that understand the importance of young adulthood together in coalition to remove these barriers and reimagine systems, in order to ensure young people can envision the future they desire and grow into adulthood with optimism and excitement.”
— Elizabeth Cheung, Senior Program Officer, Opportunity Youth, Conrad N. Hilton Foundation
"We have some incredible programs serving young people, but we only have a small fraction of what we need. Together with young people and our partners, we will strive to ensure all youth can look forward to futures with hope and access to supportive pathways to follow their dreams."
— Dr. Mary Ann (Mimi) Haley, Executive Director, National Youth Employment Coalition