The Florida Youth Leadership Forum (YLF)
The Florida Youth Leadership Forum (YLF) is an annual career and leadership training program that is both educational and motivational. Sponsored annually by The Able Trust, the YLF brings together rising high school juniors and seniors each summer to spend a long weekend in Tallahassee learning about community and academic resources, disability history, career options and personal leadership. They also take part in social activities which enable them to network, learn from each other and build friendships that will last a lifetime.
The YLF is one of three youth programs of The Able Trust that works to reduce the dropout rate of youth with disabilities and improve their participation in employment related activities. These programs focus on building self-esteem, developing personal leadership skills and preparing young adults with disabilities for life beyond high school.
Young Leaders Empowered To Bring About Change
More than 60 students with disabilities participated in the 11th annual Florida Youth Leadership Forum (YLF) this past July in Tallahassee. This unique leadership event was sponsored by The Able Trust with funding assistance from the Florida Developmental Disabilities Council. Florida’s future leaders participated in events such as Capitol Day – where students participated in a mock legislative session – and a career fair which featured 20 local career mentors representing 12 vocations ranging from Agriculture and Environment to Science and Technology.
YLF 2010 delegates place their votes at the conclusion of their mock legislative session at the Florida Capitol.
In addition to these standard components of the forum, this year's students experienced an etiquette dinner training session facilitated by the Florida State University Career Center along with a Saturday morning excursion to Tallahassee's Jack McLean Park for kickball, basketball, and fun in the sun. Another new element, True Colors, helped students learn how to interact with individuals who have different personality types. A community service project hosted by Build-A-Bear Workshops helped round out the week, teaching students the importance of giving back to the communities in which they live.
"Everything we did helped me open up and let me know that I wasn't alone," first-year delegate Leah Haefner said.
"We can do everything any other able-bodied person can do," delegate Britney Howard added.
Scrapbooks were passed out on the last day. Students and adults alike wrote words of encouragement on the back pages, even signing each other's t-shirts as lasting mementos of the time they spent together, hoping that the barriers of time and distance will not weaken the ties binding them. One final, pertinent piece that each first-year delegate took home was the Personal Leadership Plan they filled out during the week, laying the ground work for what promises to be a bright future if they stick to their blueprint.
"No matter what you have, you can still do what you love and be successful," delegate Danaisy Sanchez said. "You can do anything you set your mind to, as long as you believe in yourself."
When they arrived on opening night, they were individuals, many of them self-conscious and shy, unsure of the uncharted waters they were embarking upon. By Sunday morning, they were a family, united by the very thing that sought to separate them. Now empowered by the strength of the friendships forged at YLF 2010, they return home determined to reach their full potential, changing the course of their lives as well as those around them.
Sponsors
Sponsored by United States Department of Health and Human Services, Administration on Developmental Disabilities and the Florida Developmental Disabilities Council, Inc.
