Maine Youth Action Network

What Maine Youth Action Network does

Maine Youth Action Network (MYAN) is a statewide nonprofit organization founded in 1994 and headquartered in South Portland, Maine, operating under the parent affiliation of Opportunity Alliance. The organization functions as a community convening network that builds youth leadership capacity across the state through a portfolio of interconnected programs. Its core offerings include the Maine Youth Leadership Conference (an annual two-day gathering of 400+ youth, adult allies, and educators, operated for over 30 years), the Gateway to Opportunity paid summer workforce program for youth ages 16–24, the Peer Navigator near-peer mentorship program, and the Youth Grantmaking Council, which gives youth ages 14–18 authority over funding decisions. MYAN also operates three formal training tracks — Classroom & Beyond, Foundations of Youth Facilitation, and Emerging Leaders — that build capacity for educators, youth professionals, and emerging leaders, and launched Maine Youth Connect, an online platform for virtual mentoring and professional networking.

MYAN has a small core team of 7 employees and serves youth ages 14–24 as its primary constituency, with secondary audiences of educators, school-based staff, and direct youth professionals across Maine. In 2024, the organization facilitated over 50 trainings reaching 2,500+ people, supported 135 young leaders with $200,000+ in direct investment, and engaged over 20,000 youth and adults statewide. The organization has no proprietary technology platform beyond the recently launched Maine Youth Connect; its core technology consists of program curricula, training frameworks, and convening infrastructure.

MYAN's business model is that of a grant-funded nonprofit: it does not charge participants for programs and has no disclosed pricing model. Programs are funded through grants from external funders, with additional operational support flowing from its parent organization Opportunity Alliance (which provides shared email infrastructure at opportunityalliance.org, contact systems, and back-office resources). Youth leadership roles (Conference Youth Leadership Team, Peer Navigator mentors, Youth Grantmaking Council members) are paid stipended positions rather than volunteer roles, representing a distinctive feature of its program design. The go-to-market is community-led and event-driven: statewide convening via the annual conference, direct training delivery to schools and youth-serving organizations, and grassroots outreach through website, email newsletter, and social media (Instagram: wearemyan, Facebook).

Name

Maine Youth Action Network

Legal name

Maine Youth Action Network

Website

https://myan.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1994

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Maine Youth Action Network is a statewide nonprofit that builds youth leadership across Maine through paid workforce programs, peer mentoring, participatory grantmaking, educator training, and its annual Maine Youth Leadership Conference.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Youth Leadership Development Services

NAICS

Child and Youth Services (62411), Educational Support Services (611710), Professional and Management Development Training (611430)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

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

akta.pro secondary industries

Youth Mentoring & Positive Youth Development Nonprofits (BPAGADAD), Leadership, Character Education & Values Development (EDAMAIAG)

Keywords

• Youth leadership development
• Workforce development programs
• Peer mentorship programs
• Participatory grantmaking
• Professional development training

Headquarters

HQ city

South Portland

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Grants and Fundraising: As a nonprofit organization, MYAN operates primarily through grants and funding from partners and funders. The organization invests over $200,000 annually in young leaders' growth and receives support from various funders to sustain programming.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Maine Youth Action Network (MYAN) is a statewide nonprofit that convenes youth and adults to build youth leadership across Maine. It operates a portfolio of programs including the annual Maine Youth Leadership Conference (400+ attendees), the Gateway to Opportunity paid workforce program, the Peer Navigator near-peer mentorship program, and the Youth Grantmaking Council. It also delivers three training tracks for educators, youth professionals, and emerging leaders, and maintains the Maine Youth Connect online platform for virtual mentoring and professional networking.

Product overview

Maine Youth Action Network operates as a multi-initiative youth development organization offering a portfolio of interconnected programs. The core offerings include the annual Maine Youth Leadership Conference (a two-day gathering of over 400 participants), the Gateway to Opportunity workforce development program, the Peer Navigator near-peer mentorship program, and the Youth Grantmaking Council. These programs are complemented by three training tracks (Classroom & Beyond, Foundations of Youth Facilitation, and Emerging Leaders) that build capacity for youth engagement across Maine. The organization also maintains an online platform, Maine Youth Connect, for virtual mentoring and professional networking. The programs are designed to work together, with youth progressing through leadership opportunities, workforce experiences, and peer mentorship while adults and educators access training to support youth-centered work.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Gateway to Opportunity: Youth workforce development program providing paid summer employment opportunities for young professionals ages 16-24
• Peer Navigator
• Maine Youth Leadership Conference
• Youth Grantmaking Council

Products and services

• Maine Youth Leadership Conference (MYLC)

Quantifiable outcome

• Reached over 2,500 people with 50+ trainings in 2024
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• ME-RAPcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 9 October 2025MYAN represents the Maine Youth Leadership and Development Council in partnership with ME-RAP at the Maine Recovery Council. Young people from 7 counties across Maine gathered in Augusta to attend and testify at the Maine Recovery Council Meeting.
• Opportunity AlliancecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMYAN operates as part of Opportunity Alliance. The organization's email is [email protected] and contact information points to the Opportunity Alliance infrastructure.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Big Brothers Big Sisters of America: National youth mentoring organization operating one-to-one mentoring programs. Comparable to MYAN in its mission to build supportive relationships for young people, though BBBS operates at national scale and focuses more narrowly on traditional mentoring rather than the broader leadership/grantmaking/workforce stack MYAN runs.
• Boys & Girls Clubs of America: National youth development organization providing afterschool programming, leadership development, and workforce readiness. Comparable to MYAN in serving youth ages 14-24 with leadership, workforce, and personal development programming, though delivered through physical club locations vs. MYAN's network/convening model.
• America's Promise Alliance: National cross-sector alliance focused on youth development and well-being. Comparable to MYAN's statewide coalition/convening model that brings together youth, adults, and organizations to support young people, though operating at national scale with broader policy focus.
• 4-H (National 4-H Council): Youth development organization offering leadership, civic engagement, and workforce programs through a state-based cooperative extension network. Directly comparable to MYAN's youth leadership, civic engagement, and workforce development focus, with similar educational and community-based delivery model.
• National Mentoring Partnership (MENTOR): National organization supporting and mentoring affiliate programs across the country. Comparable to MYAN in advancing youth mentoring quality and capacity, with similar network-building approach to scale youth development impact.

Direct peers

• Lead for America: Organization placing young leaders in paid fellowships to drive local community impact. Comparable to MYAN's paid youth leadership roles (Ambassador, Facilitator) and youth-led civic engagement focus, with similar cohort-based leadership development model.
• Year Up: Workforce development organization offering paid training and internships for young adults. Closely comparable to MYAN's Gateway to Opportunity paid summer workforce program in targeting young professionals with paid skill-building placements, though Year Up operates at national scale with a longer program duration.
• YouthBuild USA: National nonprofit providing workforce development, education, and leadership pathways for opportunity youth. Comparable to MYAN's combined workforce and leadership development focus on young people, with a similar emphasis on paid participation and civic engagement.
• iMentor: Youth mentoring organization using technology-enabled programs to connect students with mentors. Comparable to MYAN's Peer Navigator near-peer mentorship program and Maine Youth Connect virtual mentoring platform, with similar focus on technology-supported mentoring relationships.

Regional players

• Opportunity Alliance: MYAN's parent organization, a Maine-based social services nonprofit providing community-based programs. Comparable as the operating infrastructure for MYAN with overlapping youth and family services in the same Maine geography, but serving a broader social services mandate beyond MYAN's youth leadership focus.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/MaineYouthActionNetwork
• Instagraminstagram.com/wearemyan
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/maine-youth-action-network

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Maine Youth Action Network