~ Inaugural winners tackle issues ranging from public health to environmental consciousness to youth unemployment ~

CLIFTON, New Jersey (March 8, 2022)—The Alliance for Shared Values (AfSV) announces on International Women’s Day that five projects, all led by young women, will receive awards for the inaugural Young Leaders in Civic Engagement competition, in which groups of high school and college students completed projects to help their communities.

In addition to winning monetary awards, the winning participants become the first cohort of the AfSV Youth Ambassadors Network who will continue developing leadership skills and working toward positive change in their communities.

“We are excited to see these young changemakers bring fresh ideas and initiatives to their communities,” said Alp Aslandogan, AfSV executive director. “Their enthusiasm for helping those in need and engaging with people of different backgrounds are wonderful examples of Hizmet’s core values in practice. It is also very meaningful and inspiring that all of these groups are led by young women.”

The awardees include:

• Girls Support Girls group from Chicago, working to provide feminine hygiene products to women in need, including through shelters and food pantries.
• Climate Enthusiasts of San Antonio, Texas, dedicated to spreading awareness on climate change and environmental issues, including organizing actions for communities to address these issues locally.
• Youth for Success group in Canada, organizing seminars and programming on the connection between youth unemployment and crime.
• Health Education Team group in San Antonio, working to provide information on community health issues to immigrant communities that otherwise may not pay attention to normal public health communications channels.
• Golden Youth group from Ohio, organizing school supply donation drives to help underprivileged youth.

Awards were selected from a panel of judges on the basis of project scope and implementation, meeting social needs, diversity of the team and the recipients of services, and the final presentation of the project by each group. These new AfSV Youth Ambassadors will:

• Receive consulting on prospective projects
• Receive consulting on participating in local, national or international conferences and events
• Participate in training and professional development programs
• Benefit from the professional and social networks of AFSV and its partners, and
• Receive assistance in grant applications

In future years, they will have an opportunity to serve as mentors to new cohorts of Youth Ambassadors that join the network.

You can watch the award ceremony here and find out more about YLCE here.

About Alliance for Shared Values

The Alliance for Shared Values (AFSV) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that serves as a voice for cultural organizations affiliated with Hizmet, a civil society movement inspired by prominent preacher and peace advocate Fethullah Gülen. The Alliance strives to promote peace and social harmony by helping reduce misinformation and false stereotypes about any or all ethnic, cultural and religious communities. To learn more about the Alliance, please visit www.afsv.org.

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