Every year high school leaders of Youth Build Immigrant Power (YBIP) train a new cadre of four peer trainers who are selected from previous training sessions. New trainers outreach and recruit immigrant youth by publicizing the leadership program to English Language Development (ELD) classes at their respective schools.
As a result of this outreach, about 50 middle and high school students attend a general meeting. At the meetings, youth leaders encourage the participants to apply for the leadership programs and educate them about critical issues affecting low income immigrant youths. Youth leaders then select 20 youths to participate in the 12-week-long leadership training sessions.
To provide information about the program and to solicit support from the program participants’ parents, youth leaders organize a parents’ meeting. AIWA women leaders are present at the meeting to respond to questions and address concerns from the parents. The highlight of the program is a weekend retreat filled with fun and valuable training sessions, leadership development, and team building.