Y Street

What Y Street does

Y Street is a youth volunteer initiative operated under the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth (VFHY), a nonprofit organization established by the Virginia General Assembly in 1999. Founded in 2004, Y Street trains high school students across Virginia to lead community-based health promotion campaigns targeting obesity, tobacco use, and e-cigarette use prevention. The program engages students through a school-based club network, providing training modules, volunteer hours, leadership experience, and rewards; participating high school clubs can receive up to $2,000 in funding. Since inception, over 10,000 youth members have participated in campaigns including Rev Your Bev (healthy hydration, launched 2013), Share The Air (tobacco-free outdoor public spaces), the 24/7 Campaign (which successfully advocated for Virginia's Comprehensive Tobacco-Free and E-Cigarette-Free School bill), Fresh Spot (healthy food access), and Great Starts with Breakfast (school breakfast participation). The 24/7 campaign resulted in Virginia's schools becoming 100% tobacco-free and e-cigarette-free 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, while the Rev Your Bev campaign has driven 28 school divisions to update wellness policies benefiting over 309,694 students.

Y Street operates as a free, volunteer-driven program with no proprietary technology stack, no API, no mobile application, and no commercial product offering. Its core deliverables are programmatic: trained youth volunteers, school wellness policy adoptions, community events (such as annual Rev Your Bev Day celebrations and tabling activities), and direct advocacy meetings with school boards and local decision makers. The Y Street Leadership Team sub-program provides advanced engagement opportunities for select members to participate in high-level community engagement with elected officials. The organization's marketing channels include its website (ystreet.org), social media handles (@revyourbev on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook), student-written blog testimonials, and in-person school and community events.

The business model is nonprofit grant-funded: Y Street does not generate revenue through pricing or sales. It is funded by VFHY through Virginia state appropriations and grant funding. The website is operated by Rescue Agency Public Benefit, LLC as agency of record. Y Street has no independent funding rounds, no subsidiaries, and no disclosed headcount budget beyond 6 core employees (with the vast majority of program delivery executed by volunteer youth members). Customer segments are Virginia high school students (primary), Virginia high school clubs (primary), and Virginia local government entities including parks and recreation departments (secondary).

Name

Y Street

Legal name

Y Street

Website

https://ystreet.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Y Street is a nonprofit youth volunteer initiative of the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth, founded in 2004 to train Virginia high school students as health advocates. It runs campaigns on obesity, tobacco, and e-cigarette prevention, engaging over 10,000 youth members and 28 school divisions.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Youth Health Advocacy Programs

NAICS

Child and Youth Services (62411)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Student Wellness & Prevention Programs (Substance Use, Sexual Health, Bullying) (EDAJAIAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Community Health, Prevention & Health Education (BPAGACAC), Youth Mentoring & Positive Youth Development Nonprofits (BPAGADAD)

Keywords

• Youth health advocacy
• School wellness programs
• Tobacco prevention campaigns
• Hydration promotion programs
• Student volunteer initiatives

Headquarters

HQ city

Virginia

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Foundation Funding: Y Street is funded by and operates as an initiative of the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth (VFHY), a nonprofit organization established by the Virginia General Assembly in 1999. VFHY funds programs through state appropriations and grant funding.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Y Street is a free youth volunteer initiative that trains Virginia high school students to plan and lead health promotion campaigns in their schools and communities. The program operates three active statewide campaigns: Rev Your Bev (encouraging water consumption and improved school water access), Share The Air (promoting 100% tobacco-free and vape-free outdoor public spaces), and the 24/7 Campaign (advocating for tobacco-free schools 24/7). Student participants earn volunteer hours, leadership experience, rewards, and their high school clubs can receive up to $2,000 in funding.

Product overview

Y Street is the Virginia Foundation For Healthy Youth's award-winning volunteer initiative for high school students, operating as a youth-led health promotion program rather than a technology product. The core offering consists of the Y Street program itself, which trains high school students to become health advocates in their communities. The program operates several health campaigns including Rev Your Bev (healthy hydration), Share The Air (tobacco-free outdoor spaces), and 24/7 (tobacco-free schools). Previous campaigns include Fresh Spot (healthy food access) and Great Starts with Breakfast (school breakfast participation). The Y Street Leadership Team provides advanced leadership opportunities for select members.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Rev Your Bev: A statewide campaign to improve the health of all Virginians by encouraging them to drink more water.
• Share The Air
• 24/7 Campaign
• Fresh Spot
• Great Starts with Breakfast

Products and services

• Y Street Volunteer Program
• Rev Your Bev Campaign
• Share The Air Campaign
• 24/7 Campaign
• Y Street Leadership Team
• Fresh Spot Campaign
• Great Starts with Breakfast Campaign

Quantifiable outcome

• 28 school divisions have updated wellness policies benefiting 309,694 students
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and minor.

• Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth (VFHY)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2004Y Street is the official volunteer initiative of VFHY, established to empower Virginia's youth to make healthy choices by reducing and preventing youth tobacco and nicotine use, substance use, and childhood obesity. VFHY provides funding, resources, and institutional support to Y Street programs.
• Rev Your BevcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRev Your Bev is VFHY's healthy hydration campaign that Y Street youth promote through school events, policy advocacy, and community engagement. The campaign encourages water consumption and improved water access in Virginia schools.
• Share The AircoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerShare The Air is VFHY's campaign committed to creating 100% tobacco-free and vape-free outdoor public spaces. Y Street youth work to advocate for tobacco-free parklands with local parks and recreation departments across Virginia.
• Virginia School Divisions (28+) Partnering with Rev Your BevflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerSchool divisions across Virginia partner with Y Street and Rev Your Bev to update wellness policies for increased water access. Partners include Lynchburg City Schools, Pittsylvania County, Dinwiddie County, Henry County, King William County, Grayson County, Suffolk, and others representing over 309,000 students.
• Campbell County Parks and RecreationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCampbell County Parks and Recreation partnered with Share The Air to promote 100% tobacco-free outdoor environments. The department adopted no-smoking signage and became Share The Air's 26th partner.
• Office of the First Lady of Virginia (Historical)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerY Street previously partnered with the Office of the First Lady of Virginia on the Great Starts with Breakfast campaign to increase school breakfast participation.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth (VFHY): Y Street's parent organization and primary funder. VFHY operates the same youth health-prevention mission across Virginia and directly administers Y Street, making it the most directly comparable entity.
• Rescue Agency Public Benefit: Agency of record operating Y Street's website and youth-facing digital programs, with deep involvement in youth health behavior-change campaigns.

Broad incumbents

• Truth Initiative: National nonprofit running the truth® youth anti-tobacco campaign, comparable in mission to Y Street's 24/7 and Share The Air campaigns but at a much larger national scale.
• Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids: Leading national advocacy organization focused on reducing tobacco use among kids and youth, directly overlapping Y Street's anti-tobacco and anti-vape campaign goals.
• American Lung Association: Major nonprofit addressing lung health including youth tobacco prevention, with comparable tobacco-free outdoor and school advocacy initiatives.
• Alliance for a Healthier Generation: National nonprofit working with schools to improve youth health outcomes, directly comparable to Y Street's school-wellness policy and obesity/hydration focus.
• American Heart Association (Youth Programs): National health nonprofit with school-based youth wellness initiatives addressing hydration and healthy lifestyle choices, overlapping Y Street's Rev Your Bev mission.

Emerging players

• Boys & Girls Clubs of America: National youth development nonprofit with school-based club infrastructure and health programming, comparable in targeting high school students through school-affiliated clubs.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 Y Street