Programs

Overview of the KY YMCA Programs

Y Membership and Empowerment

Student Y is our student-led program that empowers middle and high school students to make a meaningful impact in their local and global communities! If you're passionate about creating positive change, developing leadership skills, and engaging in service learning projects, then Student Y is the perfect opportunity for you. Student Y is open to students in grades 6-12 and serves as a platform for schools and community organizations to foster compassionate community leaders. Student Y members receive discounts on other Y programs. Student Y Brochure 2021-22

Youth and Government Conferences

Kentucky United Nations Assembly (KUNA) is a 3-day, experiential-learning conference in which students participate directly in simulated international diplomacy. KUNA offers students the opportunity to experience the richness of cultures from around the world, develop empathy, and hone their critical thinking skills while engaging with a wide variety of perspectives and global issues.

Kentucky Youth Assembly (KYA) is an expanded, educational opportunity in which students serve as part of a model state government. KYA offers students the opportunity to learn about a wide variety of issues, develop critical thinking skills, and articulate their beliefs while engaging constructively with their peers from around the Commonwealth.  KYA Brochure 2023

Leadership Development Conferences

Go For It Conference (GFI) Conference, which occurs annually over Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend, is a three-day inspirational and motivational character development conference that builds servant leaders through a focus on introspective reflection, personal discovery, and skills development. Through in-depth guided discussion, small group activities, and team building, teens hone leadership skills and explore their own values away from the pressures of their daily lives.  GFI Brochure 2024

Leadership Training Conference (LTC) is an inspirational, motivational, and FUN character development conference that builds servant leaders through a focus on personal discovery and skills development. Through in-depth guided discussion, small group activities, and team building, teens hone leadership skills and explore their own values away from the pressures of their daily lives. -- LTC Digital Brochure 2024 - PDF

Service Learning Program

Y-Corps is a yearlong service-learning program that asks students to perform at least 50 hours of community service, raise money for the Y’s scholarship fund, and advocate for the Y movement. In the summer, Y-Corps teams travel around Kentucky or a region of the United States performing service, staying at local YMCAs, and learning about the communities they serve. Y-Corps Brochure 2023 

Youth Advocacy Programs

Young Kentuckians Advocacy Program (YKAP), is a statewide advocacy training program for students grades 6-12 in Kentucky. As a hybrid program, with five virtual sessions and two in-person sessions, YKAP breaks down barriers of distance and time, providing a space for our Commonwealth’s brightest and boldest young minds to connect and work together to expand their abilities to make a positive change in their state and local communities. Through an advanced curriculum of workshops, networking, and special projects, YKAP student advocates develop real world skills, and work towards real world action. Young Kentuckians Advocacy Program Brochure 2023

Youth Advocacy Leaders (YAL) is a team of student leaders dedicated to create positive change across the Commonwealth. They actively seek opportunities to network with other students and adults to create a collaborative voice for change. The team is committed to inclusivity because each person in this community and this world, regardless of demographics, is capable of bettering the lives of those around them—they need only the opportunity. YAL members also work to inspire their fellow YKAP students to take their passions to the next level in creating policy changes in their communities and state.

Virtual Conferences

The Kentucky YMCA provides virtual events so students can have our programming come to them:

  • Young Kentuckians’ Advocacy Program | YKAP
  • Connect, Advocate, Reflect, and Engage | CARE
  • Y-Fest Summer Sessions | Y-Fest

National Conferences

The Kentucky YMCA is one of 39 state programs of YMCA Youth and Government. Each year, Kentucky joins these state programs in sending delegations to multiple national conferences around the country:

  • YMCA Conference on National Affairs | CONA
  • YMCA National Judicial Competition | NJC
  • YMCA Youth Governors Conference
  • YMCA National Advocacy Days
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