I'm really really really really excited for this conference. I'm so excited to meet up with youth from all over the city to discuss our passions and dreams. i hope that by posting this call out that i'll get to meet some of you takingitglobal-ers! things are really starting to get rolling. !@!@#@#!

:)



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ATTENTION: ALL YOUTH!

The message below is a first call out for a high school activist conference proposed for the weekend of May 3rd-4th as a kick-off for International Youth Week in Toronto. This letter is specifically addressed to youth groups, especially teens, but we are looking for various forms of support from other groups in areas such as funding, media relations, and advertising. Thank you for your support and we look forward to working with you in the future.

hungry4change conference committee

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Hungry for Change - Youth Action Conference 2003

Dear: takingITglobal youth

Stir It Up, Youth Action Network (YAN) and Toronto Environmental Alliance’s Youth Caucus (TEA) are planning a two-day youth action conference proposed for May 3-4. This conference will include one day of workshops on issues of social justice, peace, environmentalism, anti-oppression and more. The second day will focus on ways that youth can organize to address these issues, culminating in the proposed formation of a Toronto High-School Political and Social Action Coalition. This day will be devoted to workshops on a variety of topics pertaining to youth action; puppet making, letter writing, culture jamming, protesting, group organizing, anti-oppression, radical cheerleading, zines, civic journalism, street theater and more.

Stir It Up is a youth run initiative aimed at creating a high school political action network in the Greater Toronto Area. They recognize that there is a lack of opportunities for youth and high school students to express social criticisms and participate in working towards social change. They hope to accommodate this need by establishing a network where students and youth can come together and organize on issues that concern them.

The Toronto Environmental Alliance's Youth Caucus is composed of a small group of Toronto students who committed to making a positive change in the natural environment, as well as the city, while educating the youth population. Established in 1998, the Youth Caucus has undergone much change in its members, but the beliefs and passion remains the same. TEA Youth works with the Toronto Environmental Alliance, a non-government, not-for-profit organization that enables local citizens to get involved in environmental actions in the city, as well as with other youth groups in Colombia in hopes of establishing a Canadian-Colombian youth network.

YAN (Youth Action Network) is dedicated to helping youth become more informed and actively involved in order to move towards a just and sustainable society. They strongly believe in the ability of youth to affect change in the world. They understand the need for a stronger voice and for greater participation in our local and global communities. The main functions of YAN are to provide information and promote action. YAN is a national non-profit youth organization based in Toronto.

With a growing interest in social justice issues in the Toronto youth population, there is an urgent need to create youth-run activist spaces, where these issues can be discussed and we can work together to make a change. There seems to be a sense of disempowerment in the youth population and we feel it is important to create an environment where asking questions is encouraged and youth opinions are valued. In Toronto, high school students have little opportunity to get involved in issues affecting their communities, such as those relating to social justice, peace, environmental and anti-oppression. We would like to counteract this problem with a forum where youth of all different backgrounds can come together and dream up a better world.
Our goal is to have as many groups involved in the organizing process as possible, we believe that the more people involved in making an interactive and informative conference, the more successful it will be. If you would be interested in adding your support through a workshop, encouraging outreach or simply helping us organize the conference, please contact us at the e-mail address below.

We would also like to invite all interested youth groups in Toronto to attend the Hungry for Change conference, as it is very important that an array of students and groups participate in the High-School Coalition building process.

Please contact: hungry4change@outgun.com if you are interested or have any questions.

Kind regards,

Stir It Up
Toronto Environmental Alliance- Youth Caucus
Youth Action Network