​ CNAY Hosts Filipino Youth Leaders in Washington, D.C.

Twenty-four Filipino youth from Mindanao, the southern region of the Philippines, visited CNAY for our first youth roundtable meeting of Summer 2018. The youth were participants from the U.S. State Department’s Philippine Youth Leadership Program (PYLP).

In an informal discussion, the visiting young leaders learned more about Indigenous peoples in the U.S., CNAY, and Generation Indigenous. The PYLP youth also shared about their communities and issues they are hoping to create solutions for. Many of them were especially passionate about the environment, improving waste management systems, and engaging both indigenous and non-indigenous youth in and around their communities.

Sponsored by Northern Illinois University and the U.S. Department of State, the Philippine Youth Leadership Program brings young indigenous, Christian, and Muslim youth from the southern Philippines to the U.S. for a four-week US based exchange program focused on responsible citizenship, community service leadership and action plan development.

These two youth answered trivia questions and won CNAY water bottles and signed Jacoby Ellsbury (who is on the CNAY Board of Advisors) Red Sox jerseys.

This post contributed by Tashia Arnold and Bettina Gonzalez.