Model and Strategy
YR Media (formerly Youth Radio) is the nation’s premier youth-driven media outlet. We recently re-launched under a new name, retiring Youth Radio, to mark a strategic shift to engage a young national audience — and position Bay Area youth to run the Oakland headquarters of a national network.
Our mission remains unchanged: to provide media, arts and technology skills to young people who face systemic barriers to success and see few authentic representations of themselves in the media. Annually, we provide intensive media training and jobs to 300 youth ages 14-24 in the Bay Area.
The Digital Media Pathway (The Pathway) is YR’s program designed for opportunity youth over 18. Now, with our shift, this group will have access to more skills and jobs at YR—placing opportunity youth at the center of conversations about the nation’s most pressing issues.
Starting this fall, the Pathway will expand its curriculum to offer digital media training in four tracks and 6-9 months of supportive, paid internships. The expanded Pathway will prepare students to tell stories for YR as journalists, sound engineers, filmmakers, and artists. Pathway students asked for more skills and jobs, and we are ready to deliver.
Impact
With deep economic and social divisions defying the rapid innovation around us, young people must be prepared. YR offers a unique mix of technical and creative skills for personal and collective advancement. The Pathway will serve 40 opportunity youth in 2019; this critical year will establish a new model that can grow in scale over the next decade—all while engaging and educating a multi-generational audience of millions on the issues opportunity youth face.
We define our impact in four pillars:
Skills: Opportunity youth access the latest technology and hands-on training in journalism, audio, video, and social media.
Support: Opportunity youth work with YR’s case managers to identify barriers and goals that can be met with mental health services, academic tutoring, YR’s meal program, or referral to trusted partners.
Jobs: Opportunity youth access YR’s internships, building technical and professional skills for a variety of careers.
Influence: Opportunity youth connect with peers and decision-makers by sharing their stories via our independent platforms and partners such as NPR, New York Times, and Teen Vogue—building the influence to counter injustice and hold power accountable.
Leadership
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Ellin O'Leary
President and Chief Content Officer
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LaToya Tooles
Director of Media Education
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Jabari Gray
Former Executive Director