Previously I was a part of YOUTH POWER and now I am a proud member of the Governor Board of National Youth Leadership Network. I continue to look for ways to lead and advocate with my creativity and strong views. I hope to achieve skills, make new friends, and find ways to be heard. National Youth Leadership Network is a group of people that enabled me to find; knowledge, suggest new ways to advocate, and new ways to educate through programs and workshops.

Even though the members of National Youth Leadership Network and I don’t sit face to face, our phone conferences gather youth from all of the United States to talk, exchange ideas, and build upon what National Youth Leadership Network has in place. Getting new ideas from our peers to help others is a great opportunity to create workshops, advocacy, programs, fundraising, new organizations, and meets new peers. National Your Leadership Network has made me a leader with a voice in which I can bring back and share information and tools I learned with my community and others.

My first appearance was in a parade for St. Patrick’s Day. This let me expose National Youth Leadership Network to my community. This event lead to many people asking me questions and wanting to know more about who we are and what we are? I am glad that National Youth Leadership Network lets us, as members plan and execute events that bring awareness to the organization. There are future event and possibilities I am working to bring awareness of the group.

Being a part of this group has given me a voice to help others find their voice by empowering and enabling them with the things that I have learned. This voice has opened up many opportunities to speak and help empower other organizations. Teaching others and helping them find a voice is something I am proud of! “It takes one person and one voice to lead and help everybody find their voice.” Being able to listen to others, having my own ideas, and put them together to come up with solutions or answers that are new and to help those that are disabled, handicapped, or have language barriers to identify with the group. The biggest reason I like the fact that I am a apart of National Youth Leadership Network is that they don’t knock your ideas down, but they help you to build on the, and refocus on them. National Youth Leadership Network lets you be you; they do not judge you or criticize you. These are some reasons of many, of why I enjoy and like being apart if National Youth Leadership Network.

Given my background of things I have been through, I like to show people that I have a voice and to understand what I believe in and how I was miss treated by how people that judged me. I feel that people should not be given labels or to be judged because we all should be treated an equal. That is what I believe in and this is what inspired me to join.

In the future, I would like to see us to recruited more people or reach out to them through the community news or workshops. Being able to get our voices out there may inspire others to use their voice and I am willing to share my voice to let everyone know I am all for the voices being heard and to make change.

While I was a full-time student at California State University, Fullerton, I was the president and co-founder of an organization named Students Navigating Accessibility.  I worked to increase awareness of accessibility on and off campus. I encouraged both student members and other community leaders to be involved. Scholarships and internships with local organizations were created through Students Navigating Accessibility.

I continue to keep in contact with current leaders of Student Navigating Accessibility and Autism Speaks U. We are seeking community leaders and professors to be on workshop panels. Topics focus on how individuals with disabilities are influenced by others in the community. Our most current event will take place at California State University, Fullerton in May 2013.

I also created a group of students with disabilities to coordinate discussions and other events. They get to meet with mentors and community leaders in the process and make connections for their future.

I lead discussions within the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community as well. Topics include Deaf Culture and Deaf Identity. Students help in creating the discussions as well.

Good networking skills have made all of this possible.  I keep in contact with community leaders across Southern California. I use these skills with my programs at local counseling centers.

Being a part of the NYLN is a wonderful opportunity. It is a way to bring my success to a national level.  It is also a way for me to give back to community.

Feel free to contact me at Roberto@CabreraCounseling.com .

Students Navigating Accessibility:

http://www.dailytitan.com/2011/12/making-health-center-more-accessible-to-students/

http://www.dailytitan.com/2011/09/focus-on-ability-not-disability/

http://www.dailytitan.com/2011/10/celebrating-disability-history-month-awareness/

YouTube Clips:

http://youtu.be/2vDJjWEdAoA

http://youtu.be/PMndb9qZiOc

Autism Speaks U:

http://www.autismspeaksucsuf.com/

My community education workshop:

http://youtu.be/B5FRWj64hBM

http://conta.cc/13IIIJG

During Staci’s freshman year of college, she had the opportunity to run a disability awareness workshop. The workshop included training on how to be a sighted guide to people who are blind or visually impaired.

During my junior year in high school, I was asked to become a part of a school club that talked about leadership for students with disabilities. Joining that club helped me get involved in the disability community. Through this club, I went to and spoke at many state and national conferences. I had the chance to sit down with amazing special education leaders and really tell them what I thought. These experiences and many more helped me decide to go to college for special education.

Up until a year ago, I wasn’t very active in the disability community. Sure, I was in a disability advocacy club at college. I had even done some talks on behalf of the Disability Services Office at college, but I wanted to do more. In fall 2011, I applied and was accepted to be on the 2012 Education & Media Committee for NYLN. Around the same time, I was given the chance to be active in a number of disability-related committees in Delaware (my home state). Before attending a meeting in November, I was sent a list of priorities the committee had come up with. One of the priorities on the list was to have a state-wide youth leadership organization. Developing a state-wide youth leadership organization was something my friends in high school and I talked about too. After seeing this, I decided to start a youth leadership organization in Delaware.

This organization is now known as the Delaware Youth Leadership Initiative (DEYLI). DEYLI is a new project stemming from the Education Work Group of the State Transition Task Force for Emerging Adults with Disabilities and Special Healthcare Needs, a task force started under the Governor’s Advisory Council for Exceptional Citizens, the Catalyst Center at Boston University, and the Center for Disabilities Studies at the University of Delaware. The mission of DEYLI is to help youth with disabilities and special healthcare needs ages 14-30 to become great self-advocates and leaders who are ready and willing to make a difference in Delaware. We are in the process of becoming state partners with NYLN. Some projects we want to do this year include: having a state-wide Youth Leadership Forum; developing webinars for students, parents, and professionals; and establishing a solid Governing Board (comprised of youth with disabilities and special healthcare needs).

My next major goal is to recruit other young leaders in my state who have similar goals, values, and mission. Delaware is a mostly rural state. I am always looking for new opportunities to network with other young leaders in the states, so if you are interested or know of other people or organizations who may want to collaborate, let me know!

I am thankful that I have the wonderful opportunity to start a state-wide youth leadership initiative. It means a lot to me to know that I have a major role in making my dream–and the dreams of many of the youth leaders I met in high school–come true.

The Delaware Governor’s Advisory Council for Exceptional Citizens (GACEC) has helped me loads with DEYLI. In this picture, Staci [middle] with Terri Hancharick, Chair of GACEC [left] and Wendy Strauss, Executive Director of GACEC [right]. In the background is a banner commemorating Delaware House Bill #319 Employment First which helps create job opportunities for people with disabilities.

NYLN is dedicated to breaking isolation and building community through supporting youth with disabilities to reach their full potential.

Vision Statement:

We imagine a world where all youth live truly authentic lives, where we make our own decisions, and where we define who we are. We want to set and reach our own goals. As youth with disabilities, we want to grow in real ways through relationships and opportunities. Communities must embrace interdependence, the idea that all people need each other, and recognize its importance.

Theory of Change:

We are the experts of our own lives. As young people with disabilities, we believe a lot can happen when our voices are heard and when people know how we want and need to be supported.

We promote three methods of change:

·         SUPPORT YOUTH LEADERSHIP. Bring youth into leadership roles and make sure they have what they need to be successful in these positions. We prioritize youth having roles of equal participation, equal responsibility, and equal decision-making power.

·         EMPHASIZE FULL INCLUSION. Create a culture of accountability and inclusion. We want this culture for ourselves, for each other, for our communities, and for the systems that serve us. We build the capacity of our allies so that we can work alongside each other.

·         PUSH NEW THINKING. Spark new ideas, new methods, and new forms of measuring success. Some of these topics include: media, interdependent support systems, disability, oppression, and self-determination.