Youth Empowerment Broadcasting Organization

A nonprofit organization

$6,317 raised by 44 donors

Organizational Overview

YEBO exists to transform how Black and Brown youth experience and access well-being. In a world where their emotions are pathologized, their stories commodified, and their presence questioned, YEBO offers something different: healing-centered spaces rooted in culture, creativity, and community.

We envision a world where youth are not expected to perform pain to be seen—but are embraced in their full humanity: creative, capable, and culturally rooted. Our programs meet youth where they are—digitally, emotionally, and in their everyday environments—offering tools for reflection, regulation, and reconnection.

YEBO’s work responds to three persistent barriers:

  • A cultural mismatch between mainstream mental health resources and the lived realities of Black and Brown youth;

  • A lack of non-clinical, youth-driven wellness spaces that center joy and belonging;

  • Social isolation fueled by racial stress and limited outlets for safe, expressive connection.

In response, we create accessible experiences through storytelling, mindfulness, and media-making. At YEBO, well-being isn’t one-size-fits-all—it’s relational, rhythmic, and rooted in identity.


How Our Programs Uplift Healing & Empowerment

YEBO’s programs are designed to restore well-being as something youth define for themselves—grounded in culture, relationship, and everyday experience. At the core of our work are three goals:

  1. Normalize mental health and emotional expression in Black and Brown communities

  2. Expand access to culturally grounded wellness practices outside clinical settings

  3. Strengthen youth voice, agency, and intergenerational connection

All of YEBO’s programs are anchored in Embodied Practices, including culturally responsive movement, breathwork, and mindfulness practices led by Black and Brown healers and practitioners. These practices create a foundation of safety, presence, and self-awareness that runs through everything we do.

  • Storytelling Pop-Ups are month-long experiences delivered in partnership with youth-serving organizations. Youth explore personal narratives through guided reflection, movement, and narrative coaching, culminating in public storytelling events that affirm their lived experience and cultural identity.

  • InTune is our digital wellness initiative featuring youth-led conversations, music-backed breathwork, and short-form content that brings culturally affirming care directly into young people’s lives. Designed for ease and accessibility, InTune invites daily rituals of reflection, regulation, and connection.

  • Youth Leadership Opportunities (Design Council & Ambassador Program) ensure youth co-lead our work, shaping content, facilitating peer experiences, and building a culture of collective care.

Together, these offerings nurture a deeper sense of self, community, and belonging, because healing isn’t something youth need to earn; it’s something they deserve to access, define, and lead.


Impact Testimonials 

“Everyone wants to feel authentic, but we don’t have spaces that help us learn how to be that. YEBO is that space.” - Program Partner 

"This experience helped me find important aspects of my family history.” - Storyteller 

"The experience was more than I ever would've expected it to be. It was welcoming, safe, and rehabilitating.” - Storyteller

“I was inspired by the courage of people, especially young people, to step up and share their stories even though it’s so vulnerable!" - Audience Member

"This experience helped me step outside my comfort zone and find my true self." - Storyteller 

"The beauty in the mundane was so evident tonight. It made me think differently about my own story and what I value." - Audience Member

Mission

The Youth Empowerment Broadcasting Organization (YEBO) deepens social and emotional awareness in Black and Brown youth by integrating storytelling, mindfulness, and media-making. We envision a world where Black and Brown youth use their stories, cultural wisdom, and creative expression to heal, lead, and shape a more liberated future.

Background Statement

YEBO’s journey began in 2016 when founder Cory Montalvo, serving as a dean of students in Denver’s Five Points neighborhood, saw firsthand the systemic challenges Black and Brown youth face. His office received 1,477 disciplinary referrals in a single year, underscoring the need for a positive outlet for students and himself. In response, Cory started a comic book club where students reimagined themselves as superheroes.

This club evolved into YEBO’s current storytelling initiative, Mission 1477, a call to transform cycles of harm into pathways of healing by centering youth in wellness, intergenerational connection, and the power of their own voice.

Today, YEBO offers storytelling workshops, mindfulness practices, and digital media creation rooted in youth mental health, cultural identity, and education. Our programs help young people counter racial harm, reclaim their narratives, and envision thriving futures, turning personal stories into tools for healing, power, and self-determination.

Through voice, we live!

Organization Data

Summary

Organization name

Youth Empowerment Broadcasting Organization

other names

YEBO

Year Established

2018

Tax id (EIN)

84-4263866

Category

Arts, Culture & Humanities, Youth Development, Public & Societal Benefit, Mental Health & Crisis Intervention

Organization Size

Small Organization

Address

1031 33rd St.
DENVER, CO 80205

Service areas

CO, US

Denver, CO, US

Lakewood, CO, US

Antonito, CO, US, 81120

Aurora, CO, US

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