Join us to secure an equitable future for our nation's young adults. Support Young Invincibles as we secure accessible education, affordable health care and meaningful jobs for young adults.
“Before working at Young Invincibles, I worked in direct services and was often discouraged by the systems I saw in place: health and social support systems that were supposed to help people but let so many slip through the cracks. I was a pre-medical student, but when I worked at a clinic, so many patients had trouble affording the prescriptions and care that they needed. I had trouble imagining how I could work as a physician without becoming discouraged and jaded by the many barriers to care that people face. I feel so incredibly lucky for joining YI at the time I did. In the past two years, I've seen and experienced firsthand how possible it is for young adults, and for anyone, to effect real change and to improve (or even create) policies that help their communities. It's been so inspiring and empowering to work with such an amazing, dedicated, and caring team of other young adults and leaders who I am certain are going to change the world for the better, and it's given me the hope that I needed to continue on my career path in health care. There were constant opportunities for stepping into bravery at YI. My coworkers, managers, and boss always encouraged personal and collective growth - our office seems to know the perfect balance between pushing ourselves out of our comfort zones and prioritizing rest and wellness. I've learned so much about advocacy, the health care system, and leadership, and have grown so much more confident in myself, my knowledge, and my voice. I am so beyond grateful for all of the experiences that I'm now able to take with me into my future work, as well as the close friendships that I'll cherish for the rest of my life.” - Linda - 2020 Advocate
"YI’s Young Advocates Program helps prepare young adults for real world advocacy through hands on learning and experience. It helps shape the future leaders of tomorrow. People who will work in policy, politics, advocacy, and non profit organizations to build a world that our generation would like to see." - Brenna - 2021 Advocate
"One of the most innovative things about the Young Advocates program was that it gave students a voice to empower the community and it also gave students an agency to go about doing what they want to do." -Hithu - 2019 Advocate
“The staff is incredible, the other advocates are great, I feel like I made new friends, I learned a lot, and I grew in my ability to advocate and participate in our legislative system. This program changed my life!”- 2022 Spring Advocate
“The YI Staff is amazing. The YI Staff is inclusive, kind, easy to work with, understanding, and a great community to be around.”- 2022 Spring Advocate
“My overall experience was a learning process that left me as a better leader and advocate with core skills that I can take on with me to my career!”- 2021/2022 Fall Advocate
“It has really helped me realize my passion for policy and advocacy work. I never thought I could be involved and it helped show me how accessible a lot of this work is and how my voice matters. I also really liked how our voices mattered in this program and how the staff and organization wanted to hear our feedback on issues.”- 2021/2022 Fall Advocate
Young Invincibles' mission is to amplify the voices of young adults in the political process and expand economic opportunity for our generation. The YI Rocky Mountain office's north star is to deconstruct systems of power and rebuild those systems into something that is equitable and beautiful. It’s to build a table large enough for everyone to fit. It’s to awaken the innate power in every young person we work with, and to give them a platform to change the world. And they are.
YI Rocky Mountain is a leader in creating economic opportunity for young adults by amplifying their voices in the political process. We pass state policies and initiatives and train diverse cohorts of young adults to effectively advocate for their community’s needs, focusing primarily on health care, higher education, basic needs, civic engagement, and the workforce.
Since our founding in 2016, YI Rocky Mountain has run a leadership development program for young adults furthest from power and privilege, provided advocacy training to hundreds of young adults, led on and passed numerous state policies, developed and implemented the Hunger Free and Healthy Minds college campus checklists, conducted a mini case study of our campus-based advocacy work on destigmatizing mental health care in Colorado and on college campuses, launched a digital pilot to provide young adults in rural communities with information on preventive health care, and led a #HealthyAdulting campaign to increase health insurance literacy and use of preventive services among young adults in the state, through in-person workshops and digital engagement. We’ve produced policy and research products on achieving gender equity in Colorado apprenticeships, a policy roadmap for supporting student parents, research and recommendations on women in the workforce, and recommendations for increasing young adult use of preventive health care services.
We’re training and paying the next generation of leaders ages 18 to 34 who have low income and have had less power or privilege, specifically people of color and low-income young adults, in advocating for policy change to improve their lives and communities. YI’s policy priorities are informed and driven by young adults we work with through our leadership programs [e.g., Young Advocates Program (YAP) and Youth Advisory Board (YAB)], our research projects, and our broader young adult network. YI advocates for policy changes that achieve health equity and economic security.
Since YI’s Colorado office opened, we have:
*Provided over 500 hours of in-depth advocacy training to more than 100 young adults through YI’s paid YAP and the Denver Youth Leadership Academy;
*Reached 1,000+ young Coloradans in person and an additional 160,000+ online with important consumer information on health care and higher education;
*Connected youth leaders with over 100 state and local lawmakers working on YI’s core issues;
*Placed 20+ media stories written by or featuring the accounts of YI’s youth leaders on economic security issues facing young Coloradans;
*Developed and implemented the Healthy Minds and Hunger Free Checklists for college campuses;
*Led on over 20 pieces of state legislation that have become law; and
*Provided guidance and oversight for institutions of higher education, the state legislature, the Department of Higher Education, and the governor’s office on CARES Act spending.
Our team had some huge wins during the 2022 legislative session and we’re looking forward to another successful session in 2023.
If you’re interested in partnering or joining our work in Colorado or the Rocky Mountain Region, we’d love to hear from you!
Organization name
Young Invincibles
other names
YI
2009
Tax id (EIN)
46-2214021
Category
Youth Development
Organization Size
Large Organization
Address
303 E. 17th Avenue Suite 400Headquarters
1201 Connecticut Ave NW Suite 600Denver, CO, US