Youth Advisory Board

The Youth Advisory Board is a body of program graduates who encourage and support building a relationship between the youth and adults at Youth Radio. Members also represent YR’s young people externally, with other organizations and community partners. Their goal is to help build a sense of community to help engage the young people at Youth Radio.

Current YAB members:

 

Donta-Jackson-Business-Headshot_0000_Layer-0-copyDonta Jackson, Production Committee Leader

Donta joined Youth Radio in 2009 when he was a high school freshman. He initially joined the Youth Advisory Board to learn from one of the founders and former members of the board, Sheila Blandon. He wanted to join the board because he wanted to continue the veterans’ legacy. From the time he started at Youth Radio he has been nothing but a positive voice. He helped innovate the app lab, which is now Youth Radio Interactive, and also contributed his intellect and positivity as an academic adviser. Now in his second year of college, Donta is thankful for all the skills he learned at Youth Radio, for he has become profound at public speaking, and improved his communication skills. They have helped him become a young man and strategically plan his progressive career goals.

Elizabeth Matute-Busisness Headshot2Elizabeth Matute, Governance Committee Leader

Elizabeth Matute is currently a student at Laney College. She has been a participant at Youth Radio since June 2009. She joined the Youth Advisory Board to help make a change, to help grow the communications between youth and adults, and see Youth Radio grow with more youth in the forefront. She hopes to accomplish most of the requests the youth present to YAB.  For all the years at Youth Radio, she has gained so many skills from professional development, technical training, sound design software such as Pro-Tools, Reason, and many more skills. The main improvement she would like to make at Youth Radio is to show the participants to communicate with the staff here for change and to be comfortable and to never doubt ideas they would like to present.

Shyra-Gums-Business-Headshot_0000_Layer-1Shyra Gums, Evaluation Committee Leader

Shyra Gums joined Youth Radio in 2011 in hopes to become a better music producer, performing artist and writer. She was inspired by the leadership, professionalism and the compassion in the Youth Advisory Board, which made her want to join to learn and obtain those skills. Shyra hoped to fulfill the goals of helping the young people have a better interaction experience with all accessible media resources, as well as have their opinions more valued. Now a student at CSU East Bay, Shyra has developed better leadership and communication skills, she is actively assisting in capturing and helping improve the young people’s experience at Youth Radio, and hopes to inspire the next generation of leaders.

MayaMaya Godfrey, Education Committee Leader

Maya Godfrey joined Youth Radio in January of 2011. She joined the Youth Advisory Board because She wanted to be able to participate in Youth Radio in a way that she couldn’t have when she was still in high school. She is passionate about education, public health and advocacy in communities. She hopes to gain a thorough understanding of what it means to be active in a non-profit organization and an efficient leader in order to continue to productively participate in her community.  Maya aims to help improve the bridge of communication amongst all Youth Radio participants, both youth and staff, by incorporating their voices as much as possible. During her time at Youth Radio, now a second-year student at Merritt and Berkeley City College, Maya became a more ardent writer, a more enthusiastic teacher, and a better personal manager. She has also been able to expand her media and technical literacy, as well as, her interests and goals for a career path in the future.

CassandraCassandra E. Gutiérrez, Arts and Culture Committee Leader

Cassandra E. Gutiérrez was a junior in high school when she joined Youth Radio in 2012. She first joined with hopes of following her father’s footsteps by learning how to DJ and make beats, as well as find another space from the personal adversity in her life. She has participated and worked at Youth Radio for nearly three years developing facilitation and research skills through the Health & Wellness Department, as well as coding and app building skills from the Youth Radio Interactive department. Currently, Cassandra is a student at Berkeley City College and a project associate for the Youth Radio Interactive department.As a YAB member, Cassandra looks forward to communicating and collaborating with staff members and youth participants to strengthen the community and social integration.