Youth Organize California

What Youth Organize California does

Youth Organize California (YO! Cali) is a California-based nonprofit statewide network founded in 2017 and headquartered in Oakland. The organization seeds, nurtures, and coordinates young people, organizers, and organizations across a youth organizing movement, connecting 93 partner organizations through three regional chapters covering Northern California, Central Valley, and Southern California. Its work is organized around four core strategies: Capacity Building, Field Building, Healing Justice, and Power Building, supported by fellowship programs (Emerging Organizers Fellowship, Leads & Directors Fellowship) and youth-facing programs such as virtual artivism and advocacy workshops for ages 15–19. The network produces original publications including the Mapping Rivers to Oceans landscape assessment, the Young People's Agenda policy platform, the Young People's Platform for Police Free Schools, and the Equitable Youth Compensation report.

The organization operates on a nonprofit funding model, raising capital through foundation grants and community mutual aid campaigns rather than commercial sales. Its only disclosed institutional funding event is a $3,500,000 grant from the Walter & Elise Haas Fund in April 2023; a $50,000 Central Valley mutual aid campaign for a community organizer's medical expenses illustrates episodic community fundraising. It serves two primary constituencies: youth organizers and young leaders aged 15–24, and the youth organizing organizations they work within, with philanthropic funders as a secondary stakeholder group. The organization has 11–50 employees, regional directors and lead organizers in each region, and a small leadership team including a Field Building Director, Power Building Director, and Capacity Building Director.

The technical and product surface is programmatic rather than technological. Outputs include fellowship cohorts, convenings, training materials, research reports, and policy platforms. The distribution infrastructure consists of a WordPress-hosted website, an Instagram presence (@youthorganizeCA), an email newsletter, and a FundRazr mutual aid donation page. There are no commercial products, no app, no API, no disclosed technology stack beyond standard nonprofit communications tooling, and no evidence of AI/ML capability. The competitive positioning rests on the network's community ecosystem, the authoritative publications that set field norms, and the statewide regional staffing model that balances local presence with statewide coordination.

Name

Youth Organize California

Legal name

Youth Organize California

Website

https://yocalifornia.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Youth Organize California is a statewide nonprofit network connecting 93 youth organizing organizations across Northern California, the Central Valley, and Southern California, delivering capacity building, healing justice, power building, and fellowship programs for young leaders aged 15–24.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Youth Organizing Network Services

NAICS

Child and Youth Services (62411), Civic and Social Organizations (81341)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Youth Leadership, Civic Education & Service-Learning Nonprofits (BPAGADAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Youth Justice, At-Risk Youth & Violence Prevention Nonprofits (BPAGADAM), Youth Mental Health, Counseling & Wellbeing (Education-Linked) Nonprofits (BPAGADAK)

Keywords

• Youth organizing network
• Community organizing services
• Capacity building programs
• Healing justice initiatives
• Civic power building

Headquarters

HQ city

Oakland

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Youth Organize California is a statewide nonprofit network that convenes and supports 93 partner organizations and young leaders across California through capacity building, field building, healing justice, and power building programs. It delivers cohort-based fellowships, virtual workshops, research publications, and policy platforms aimed at advancing a BIPOC-centered youth organizing movement for racial justice and systemic change.

Product overview

Youth Organize California (YO! Cali) is a statewide network that seeds, nurtures, and weaves together young people, organizers, and organizations into a powerful youth organizing movement. The organization operates through four interconnected core strategies—Capacity Building, Field Building, Healing Justice, and Power Building—which are supported by fellowship programs (Emerging Organizers Fellowship and Leads & Directors Fellowship), shared resources (research reports, policy platforms, and training materials), and regional chapters across Northern California, Central Valley, and Southern California. The network connects 93 partner organizations and provides programs and resources focused on youth leadership development, collective healing, and systemic change advocacy.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Emerging Organizers Fellowship
• Leads & Directors Fellowship A peer-based 9-month fellowship cohort supporting youth organizing staff in strategic lead organizer or emerging director roles, designed to hone leadership capabilities and organizational strategy. Supports 19 organizational leaders per cohort.
• Youth Artivism and Advocacy Workshops Virtual one-day workshops combining art and activism to engage California youth ages 15-19 in advocacy skills, civic engagement, and creative expression.

Quantifiable outcome

• Leads and Directors Fellowship supports 19 organizational leaders in a 9-month cohort focused on youth organizing campaigns and transformative change

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Regional players

• Community Coalition: Community Coalition builds Black and brown leadership in South LA through organizing, healing justice, and power building strategies. Its pillars parallel YO! Cali's Capacity, Healing Justice, and Power Building work in Southern California.
• California Calls: California Calls is a statewide coalition advancing power-building civic engagement in low-income communities of color. It shares YO! Cali's California-only footprint and statewide networker function.
• InnerCity Struggle: InnerCity Struggle is a youth-led organizing group in East LA focused on power building, leadership development, and education justice. It is one of the 93-style affiliates that YO! Cali's statewide model depends on and engages with.
• Urban Peace Institute: UPI is a Los Angeles-based organization working to end violence through healing-centered organizing and youth leadership development. It overlaps directly with YO! Cali's Southern California power-building and healing-justice work.

Direct peers

• Alliance for Youth Organizing: The Alliance is a national network of youth organizing groups that aggregates and advocates at the federal level. It is the closest national analogue to YO! Cali's statewide backbone model for youth organizing affiliates.
• IGNITE National: IGNITE trains young women and gender-expansive youth in civic engagement and political leadership. It shares YO! Cali's youth-demographic focus (ages 15-24) and civic/policy platform orientation.
• Funders' Collaborative on Youth Organizing: FCYO is a philanthropic collaborative advancing youth organizing in the U.S. It parallels YO! Cali's role as a field-builder and convener, but operates from the funder side rather than the practitioner side.
• Forward Together: Forward Together advances gender, racial, and economic justice through movement support and network weaving. Its field-building and healing-centered strategy aligns with YO! Cali's four-pillar approach.
• The Movement for Black Lives: M4BL is a national network of organizations building Black liberation, racial justice, and healing-centered infrastructure. Its network-weaving approach and BIPOC-centered governance mirror YO! Cali's core strategies.
• Power California: Power California is a statewide youth organizing and civic engagement network serving BIPOC young people in California. It directly competes with YO! Cali for the same regional funders, partners, and youth leaders.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/youthorganizeca
• Xx.com/youthorganizeca
• Facebookfacebook.com/youthorganizeca
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/youth-organize-california

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Youth Organize California