- An Alliance For Community Action
- (970) 256-7650
- info@WesternColoradoAlliance.org
January 19: Come to the Youth Action Summit in Rifle!
The students at West Slope Youth Voice have been working hard in Mesa County to ensure their voices are heard and that youth priorities are at the forefront of the conversation at all levels of government, and we want to expand the program to bring in more youth voices from West Slope communities! To that end, West Slope Youth Voice will be hosting a Youth Action Summit in Garfield County next month, January 19, at 6 pm at the Rifle Branch Library. We invite students in Garfield County to join in on the success of our program and make it their own!
This year, the students have been incredibly busy and are celebrating some massive wins! In 2023, they:
- visited the State Capitol to lobby on important legislation and meet with state representatives, senators, and even Governor Polis
- worked to ensure a School-Based Health Center will be placed inside the new Grand Junction High School building when it opens in the fall of 2024, attending and speaking at school board meetings, hosting one-on-one meetings with school board members, and writing articles for the paper championing this wonderful benefit for students
- hosted a school board candidate forum leading up to the November elections to highlight youth priorities and to elevate youth issues to the prospective board members and for the community at-large
The students will even soon be featured on Rocky Mountain PBS, so stay tuned for our upcoming feature!
With all the success we have had in 2023, we are eager to expand the program and share our proven track record with youth in Garfield County. We invite any student or young person to attend our Youth Action Summit where we hope to begin a new chapter of West Slope Youth Voice in Garfield County.
We also would like to extend an invitation to any young person interested in joining us for our 2024 Lobby Day at the State Capitol in Denver, taking place from January 28 through January 30. This is a trip fully paid for by Western Colorado Alliance, and it is a great opportunity for youth to learn more about how bills become law and see the process in action, as well as promote their own priorities directly to legislators. Please contact Tyler McDermott at tyler@westerncoloradoalliance.org by Monday, January 22, with any interest in attending!
Tyler grew up in Grand Junction, graduating from Fruita Monument High School and attending Colorado Mesa University where he graduated in 2016. Since then, Tyler has spent the last six years working on political campaigns of all types from city council and school board up to presidential campaigns at the state level. Tyler is passionate about issues including conservation, energy, and responsible growth of the Western Slope.