The Opportunity Youth Collaborative (OYC) launched a Youth Advisory Council to guide the implementation of the Horizons 32K Roadmap for opportunity youth. This structure places youth leaders alongside system decision‑makers on the Horizons 32K Stewardship Board, ensuring lived experience shapes what the region prioritizes and how it is delivered. Youth helped set three core priorities for year one implementation: stronger high school transitions, expanded paid work‑based learning and integrated holistic supports.

In the Earn & Learn Impact Initiative, youth serve as equal partners on cross‑sector design teams at three health care training program sites. Youth leaders mapped real pathways, interpreted data and co‑designed solutions to fix breakdowns from training to living‑wage jobs. Early progress includes clearer entry points into health care training, fewer onboarding delays, stronger advising and employer connections and a shared set of youth‑informed improvements now guiding the next phase of refinement and scaling.

For more information, please reach out to Amber Chatman, Director of Workforce Systems, and Policy at [email protected].