Turning Bad To Good, Then Paying It Forward

And this is part three, the final flashback.  Rock. On.

When I first started traveling and meeting young people, I was shocked by the power and spirit of our youngest Venturers – 12 and 13 year-olds who were articulate, passionate and driven. Now, 10 months later, it seems more like the norm, especially up North. First it was Jessica in Seattle and now it’s three young women in Burnsville, Minnesota (just south of Minneapolis/St. Paul) who have turned their own life struggles into positive change for their communities.

We braved the cold (do you think you know what cold is? Well, unless you’ve been to Minnesota in the winter, complete with blistering wind, I’m going to have to say you don’t) and headed south to The Garage, a Burnsville community center where middle school and high school kids can hang out, hold group meetings, get homework, play video games and throw their own concerts, all entirely free. The center itself was a perfect model for what every community in America should be doing to support at-risk youth; give them a safe space to interact and express themselves in a positive manner.

Minutes after walking through the doors, multiple people approached us with questions and inquiries about their soon-to-be Ventures. The local reps were local celebs, with information they sought. I kept hearing, “I want to start a program for this and I need that,” and “I have this idea but I don’t know what to do next.” I sensed this general attitude among people at The Garage that doing something positive for their community was less the exception and more the rule. “Oh yeah, everybody is in something that does good stuff,” one girl told me. “Why wouldn’t we be?”

After fielding a solid 30 minutes of questions I sat down with three of the local superstars to learn more about their Ventures. The first, Latinos Unidos, was a group set up to offer an outlet and community support for Latino youth in the community. “It’s a great way to build a sense of togetherness and understanding between us,” the current leader told me. “I think it’s so important to have that outlet, and I want to give that to people here.”

The second, called Girl’s Support Group, was set up for young women in the community to have a place to air their problems and differences while offering a safe space to share their own personal struggles. “I’ve been through a lot – probably more than most 30-year-olds and I’m only 12. I had so much anger and I needed an outlet – a place I could share what I was bottling up inside. This lets me do that, and it feels good to offer the same to the rest of the girls here. We do our best to avoid drama, but hey, we’re teenage girls. It’s normal,” she said. “At least this way we’re dealing with it.”

The third, formerly called Show Stoppaz (they are currently coming up with a new name and seem to be working through a Prince-like state of “formers” and simple, “the group”) came around to offer a positive outlet for young girls and boys to both express themselves and gain ownership over something. “I’ve been through a lot too,” the current leader said, “and the only time I felt happy for a long while was when I was dancing. A lot of other people around here feel the same way, and it also just feels good to be looked up to by people and know that what I’m doing is helping them.” Their next goal? Start competing across the state and across the country.

More than anything, The Garage shows exactly what happens when you tip the attitudes of an entire community. Expectations change and young people respond, demanding more of not just themselves, but everyone around them. Indeed, it has definitely become a culture of positive action, and I hope it serves as inspiration for other groups to give youth the same opportunities.

Seattle Supersonics? How About SuperChangemakers?!?!

Part two of a three-part "young people are still awesome" series.  This kids are AWESOME!

Corny, I know, but pretty darn true. Malena and I just wrapped up three days in the Space Needle City (you know, it’s not that tall…), complete with delicious pasta, a visit to Pike’s Fish Market (they really launch those fish), lakes, trees, mountains, general fantasticness (can you tell I liked the place) and some absolutely incredible teams.

The first was started by a college fraternity called Sigma Beta Rho. They’ve partnered with the city’s homelessness reduction team to support those individuals most in need ofassistance and activity. The agency places mentally and physically handicapped homeless men and women in subsidized housing where they pay a fixed portion of their Social Security benefits toward rent, allowing them to live the rest of their lives in dignity. Still, these individuals lack a great deal of activity in their lives.

Sigma Beta Rho decided to fill that gap by developing community gardens at a number of these facilities across the city. Last year brought one garden and this year they’ll be expanding to five locations, engaging over a hundred college students in their organizations and hundreds of the community’s residents!

The second team, Kill The Chill, has partnered with Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission Homeless Shelter and Rehabilitation Center to provide hand-made scarves and hats to the residents in what has become Seattle’s coldest month – February. “We really saw how donations poor in during Thanksgiving and Christmas but once New Year passes, we seem to forget that there are still people in need. We’re working to fill that gap,” said Julia, the organization’s Director, who also serves as the Key Club President at her high school. So far they’ve donated over a hundred scarves and are planning a round of hats next. “It’s just the right thing to do,” the group explained.

Our final Seattle visit was with a group called Richard’s Rwanda. Started by 12-year-old Jessica last November, Richard’s Rwanda raises money to pay for tuition, books and clothes for girls in Rwanda who suffered from the 1994 genocide. A man named Richard stayed with her family last summer while doing fundraisers in the Seattle area and Jessica was moved by the stories of young girls in the country who did not have access to education. “I just felt like I had been so lucky my whole life, and I wanted to do something to give young women in Rwanda a chance at being powerful leaders in their country,” Jessica told me. So far they’ve raised $7,000 through fundraisers and bake sales.

We actually stopped by one of these fun-filled affairs. Imagine six 12-year-old girls behind a table covered in cookies, brownies and lemon bars selling for a cause, one of whom was sipping Tab. I mean, Tab? I thought people stopped drinking that in 1986. Their pitch? “Would you like to buy a cookie and support young girls in Rwanda who suffered from the genocide?” How does any decent-minded person say no? Jessica will be returning to Rwanda in August to hand-deliver the money she has raised so far. Her next target? “I want to build a school for girls in the capital city. We’ll get there. I’m confident we’ll get there.” Oh yeah, did I mention she’s twelve?

On to Missoula, Montana next – a pit stop on our northern crossing…more soon!

-Kyle Taylor

Valentine’s Day On The Bay

I just discovered three very old blog posts (circa 2007) that seem to have never been published!  They are from my epic road trip across America with Malena (pictured) on our journey to document the incredible world-changing ventures of young people across America.  It may have been four years, but the stories are still super inspiring!  Enjoy!

The big February 14th extravaganza started with a catch-up morning and drive into San Francisco from Berkeley. That was, of course, after we went back to Benecia High School so I could pick up my computer power cord I had left there the day before. So far I’ve forgotten an audio cable at a school in LA, my power cord in Benecia and my retainer at the La Quinta (which I later remember and recovered). ON. A. ROLL.

We decided to celebrate the big day by heading to the Golden Gate Bridge to take in the view and “light” sea breeze (read: howling winds that almost through us into the water). It was quite the little photo shoot.

From there it is on the BART (Bay Area Rapid Trasit) and out to Oakland to meet with SHATO, another SAGE team who has launched a computer technology assistance program that works to maintain and expand technology opportunities in high schools throughout Oakland. They do troubleshooting, train teachers and even build computers, all for the sake of making sure kids in their community are tied into the information age. Just as a sidebar, they showed up DRESSED TO IMPRESS – suits, ties and skirts. I felt like I was at an IBM conference.

What’s so inspiring about their work is that they’re taking action in a community where change and action aren’t exactly the norm – yet. Oakland, as they told me, is one of America’s most struggling cities, and “kids don’t think good stuff is possible for them, so they don’t try hard and they don’t believe they can do better.” Their technology teacher new better and challenged them to push the envelope. “It all started so we could prove him wrong, and now we all believe we can do better. Two years ago college wasn’t something we talked about, and now it’s like, ‘where are you going to college? It’s real. It’s a reality.”

Talk about the power of being a changemaker! Not only are they are impacting their schools, fellow students and communities, but they’ve changed their own attitudes and redefined their own futures. It don’t get much better than that.

Ok, north we go – My friend’s Llama farm in Oregon is our next pit stop. Woo!

And I Had…The Time Of My Li-i-i-fe

40 Days. 32 States. 1 Canadian Province. 7373 Miles. 150 Venture Teams. 5000 Young People. 2 Lost Bags. 10 Days Without Clean Clothes. It was most certainly an adventure to say the least. Malena and I began on February 11th in Anaheim, California at the Taylor home by throwing a family BBQ (naturally) and I finished the adventure March 26th in Washington, DC after zig-zagging north, east, south, east, north, further north, west, south, east, north and south again. We moved from wearing shorts under the sunny skies of California to bundling up in down jackets to fend off the sub-zero temperatures of Minnesota.



No matter where we were one thing remained consistent: young people are doing incredible things to fundamentally reshape their schools, cities, states and country. From a 12-year-old in Seattle who has raised more than $10,000 in just three months to fund girls scholarships in Rwanda to 20-year-olds in New England who have brought arts into the lives of hundreds of children, they gave life to this idea that young people can be Powerful now. Changemakers now.



Still, for whatever reason, there are those who doubt. Who say this is a figment of our imagination, and that their work is the exception and not the rule. New agencies that say this “isn’t a story” and that there is “nothing significant there.” Well I have 8000 pictures, 60 hours of video, 200 interviews, 100 blog entries and a network of millions of young people who might think otherwise. Yes, this isn’t a majority YET but when in history has it taken a majority of people to change the world? From ending religious extremism to guaranteeing the right to vote for ever American, powerful minorities have time and time again reshaped the way we think and live, truly changing our world.



This will absolutely be the greatest global movement to ever take shape, so here is my advice to you: Pay attention. Know your facts. Understand these “crazy kids.” Why? Because if you don’t you’re going to wake up in 20 years and realize that we somehow managed to take control of everything without ever rustling a feather. This is a silent revolution but have no fear: we will be heard, whether it’s in the townships of South Africa, favellas of Brazil or inner cities of America. Change is-a-comin’. Are you coming too?



With that, I think it’s important to cite what was perhaps the greatest success of the road trip; the simple fact that Malena and I did not have one single fight. It was nothing but smiles, laughs, mix cds and the occasional “moment of silence.” All told, I could not have found a better road mate, so thank you girl. You rock.

From here, it’s all about reflecting on the experience and offering some commentary, so stay tuned. Plus, my Asian adventure begins in just 2 weeks. China, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, here I come. Woo!

Post Secret!

So, it appears someone posted a “secret” about me on www.postsecret.com. While it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, A close friend did translate the Polish for me:

"I narrator every (ow: not a word anyone would use today which can mean person) I am we speaking polish otherwise I am clearly a liar for you everything!"
She followed that by saying:
It is poorly conjugated (I even double checked with my mom about the OW word (i have never heard that word and she said "unless they are 80, you would not hear that word"))

After lots of thinking and conferring with friends, I’ve decided that it probably has nothing to do with me and instead, someone found the photo of me online and decided to use it to tell their secret. Still, totally bizarre to see my face there. If you have any other leads by all means, let me know!

In other news, Malena and I were also “blogged” celebrating her birthday in Atlanta. You’ll find that photo on www.bestkisses.com or by clicking here.

Big Change In HOT-lanta

Our cross-country trek was definitely starting to wear us down as we approached Atlanta. We were about to pass the 5,000-mile mark, which meant we had spent 100 hours (4 WHOLE DAYS, 8 Daylight days) on the road. Our booties ached, our ears burned from listening to the same 500 songs on repeat and our inability to find fresh fruit was making us edgy (potassium is important!). Needless to say, spirits were not high and this sign seemed to speak volumes: “NO.” No to what we didn’t know, but it still spoke to us.


That is, until we met Jordan of Children’s Bilingual Theater. Thankfully, she had an event planned for the day we were in town, and what an event it was. At 10 years old Jordan saw a serious need in her community for bilingual fluency support. The daughter of a Spanish-speaking mother and English-speaking father, Jordan was raised in a bilingual home. When her family moved to Marietta, Georgia – a community with a large immigrant population – Jordan noticed just how divided the two populations were, and she wanted to bridge that gap.


Since she began four years ago, Jordan has produced four bilingual plays that have involved hundreds of young people. In addition to these larger productions, she hosts several smaller events in schools and pre-schools that focus on bilingual literacy – events like Dr. Seuss day (launched to celebrate the birth of Dr. Seuss). She was in full-costume, sitting a-top a giant “Cat in the Hat” hat reading “Oh The Things You Can Think” to several classes of three to seven year-olds. The kids loved her, and it was evident she cared a great deal about them also. What’s next? Growing the organization throughout the Atlanta region!



We left Children’s Bilingual Theater to spend the evening with Laura, founder of Wild and Water. Wild and Water aims to water-safe economically disadvantaged youth in the Atlanta area by partnering with club swim teams, swimsuit and goggle makers and community organizations that all donate their time, facilities and goods to the cause.


In just over one year Laura has been able to water-safe more than 200 economically disadvantaged youth and collected $34,000 in in-kind donations! We joined in on a swim cap decorating party, which brought me right back to my 13 years as a competitive swimmer, though I did look a little bit ridiculous wearing my cap with my “street clothes…”


All-in-all, a really great day. There has been a slight schedule change so I’ll be returning to DC with Malena tonight before heading on to Montreal Sunday. Taking a few days break to catch up on life, but be back soon for the second half of this great adventure!


P.S. Happy 25th Birthday To Malena! YEAH!!!

Louisiana – Where Two Worlds Collide

Upon our arrival to New Orleans Malena and I went directly into the famed French Quarter. Most hotels were located there, so it seemed the logical choice for us. As I’m sure happens to most people, we were swept away by the personality, charm and energy of the historic downtown region. From three-story rot-iron balconies ornately decorated with fleur-de-lis’ to sipping café au lait and eating beignets at Café du Monde while listening to street-side jazz, it felt like we had been transported back in time, our worries drifting away.



On our second day, however, we took a short 5-mile drive east over the draw bridge and into the ninth Ward, the part of New Orleans that was hardest hit by Hurricane Katrina nearly two and a half years ago. What we found could not have been more shocking. House after house was marked with a large “X,” indicating that it remained condemned, unsafe and possibly toxic. FEMA trailers were scattered everywhere, some residing in what appeared to be driveways that once led to these condemned homes. Lot after lot sat completely void of actual homes, replaced instead by piles of trash, broken glass and additional remnants of what loosely resembled a home. There were no sidewalks. No streetlamps. No businesses. No fences. No yards. Some homes had been rebuilt, their high-peeked roofs creating a sort-of alternate reality skyline in a sea of chaos.



I couldn’t help but wonder how – nearly three years later – this community could still look like it had just been hit by catastrophe. Where was the failure? Was it the government? Was it a lack of commitment from locals? Did people simply not want to rebuild, or were resources being held up somewhere? While I am still searching for answers there is one person that gives me hope.


Her name is Madeline Peters. At 20 years old she has already claimed her stake in this global movement, committed to not only creating her own social change, but inspiring and encouraging others to do the same. A Pensacola, Florida native, Madeline chose to attend LSU because she felt that more than anywhere else, she could have a significant positive impact on the community. She and I met at a conference in New Hampshire and she became immediately interested in what Youth Venture does.


When I mentioned we were coming through Louisiana, she jumped at the opportunity to help us connect with youth in the area and did an incredible job, forming a committee to set up meetings at high schools, community centers and Universities in New Orleans and Baton Rouge, allowing us to meet with tons of youth from across the socio-economic spectrum.


We’re talking about a region of the country that is in so much need, and what better way to change the future there than engage those people who are going to be a central part of it? Youth like Madeline are tomorrow, but they’re already taking action today. With so much heartache and suffering, that, more than anything, should give us hope, especially in light of tragedies like Katrina. It seems clear that the government can use as much help as they can get.

NEW VIDEO & PICS - North Country Recap

Here it is, the moving pictures from our time in North Country. Yellowstone, Mount Rushmore, and some incredible Venture teams in Minnesota. Enjoy!

Road Trip America - North Country Recap

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The link, in case it doesn't embed: http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=29395738


Here are the pictures from Minnesota as well:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kyletaylor/sets/72157604022534951/

Rock Star Road Mate

We’ve now moved into a new month and it must be said, Malena is a road-trip rock star. We just finished our 100th hour in the car (that’s just over FOUR DAYS) and she has been behind the wheel every single one of them. Don’t get me wrong, I’m offered, but she gets in this “zone” and it’s a sight to be seen. I think the girl would just keep driving if I didn’t point out cool things like heads carved into mountains and the World’s largest prairie dog.



We definitely make a great pair. No fights to date and only one incident where we both felt the need to “talk about our feelings.” The humor flows like whoa, though I’d doubt anyone else would think our jokes are funny, probably because they have to do with sitting in a car for 100 hours. Pretty funny, right? Right?


It’s one of those amazing experiences – like anything, I would guess – where you don’t want it to end but it’s so exhausting you can’t wait for it to be over at the same time, so you can sleep for a week. Right now we’re just doing our best to take it one day at a time and enjoy the process, something I’ve never been all that good at doing. Always learning. Always learning.

Hey Judy, Don’t Make Us Sad…

We’re mid-Missouri at the moment and Malena and I have been keeping a big secret these past few weeks – there is a third “person” on this adventure with us. Her name is Judith Jesibelle Jenkins (she prefers Judy) and her little voice has been guiding us [almost] every step of the way. While she may appear to be simply a navigation system the reality is that she is so much more, and constantly reminds us of her humanlike abilities.

She has day and night mode, which is just like split personalities. She’s emotional (“Can’t find origin. Fatal error”), she’s demanding (“In 2 Miles Keep To The Left. Turn Left In 100 Feet. Turn Left NOW”) and more times than I can count she has refused to guide us, no matter how much coddling, praise and gifts we bestow upon her. In fact, we bought Judith her very own holiday sled Christmas tree ornament that is even engraved with her name.


Still, on numerous occasions she has done us wrong and while we love her death, a certain resentment is beginning to build up. For example, when you’re sitting at a gas station in the middle of Wyoming and there is no one for 200 miles in an direction with the exception of the gas station attendant and the older gentleman with Oklahoma license plates, the last thing you want is to have NO IDEA where you are or where you need to go. All this technology is supposed to make life easier but – truth be told – I can’t remember the last time a map book had a “fatal error.”

Judy has been complaining about low memory but she’s only 3 weeks old. I asked her to take me to the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis and she did – only it moved to a new location more than two years ago. Not only is her memory low, it’s pulling from antiquated information.

Needless to say, things in the car can be tense after a solid 8 or 9 hours of driving. Whether we like it or not, Judith Jesibelle Jenkins is all we’ve got to get us across America, so lets hope this is just a down cycle, and that things improve…in the meantime, we’ll keep apologizing for all those big square states and their lack of “waypoint initiators,” whatever those are…

NEW GENV.NET CHALLENGE! WIN AN IPOD TOUCH!

The February/March GenV.net contest is in full swing and this type, the prize is HUGE – an 8 gig Ipod Touch! Check it out now by clicking here, or at: http://www.genv.net/en-us/node/5521

(Also, I decided to include a random pic of the Llamas from our stay in Oregon. Why not, right? Here's my Oregonian friend Kyle as a childhood actor, as well as a few of the farm and drive through Oregon. So pretty!)

Because Everyone Deserves An Education

Our last few days in Minnesota were spent freezing to death with Team NAVIGATE and at the High School For Recording Arts. After a pit stop at our AWESOME Mid-West Youth Venture office we headed downtown to meet with the Lead Venturer, Ally and Tech Guru of Team NAVIGATE.


Inspired by their own personal stories as well as the experiences of their close friends and family, they set out to help undocumented high school seniors with college admissions and financial aid across the state of Minnesota. “There is so much bad information out there, and we want to make sure that kids know there is a place for them and that they have options in pursuing a college degree.” These undocumented kids are here not by their own choosing but as a result of decisions made by their parents. They’ve worked hard in school and in most cases, rank in the top 5% of their graduating classes. As senior year comes into full-swing and the college search intensifies, most of these students are either told they cannot go to college or can only go to a community college, which is absolutely not true.


“We understand the situation with immigrants but if a kid who is here not by their own choice wants to get an education so they can be a more productive member of society then shouldn’t they be allowed to,” the Lead Venturer asked me. I had to agree. Education for all, I say, and so do they. They’re online as well. Check them out at www.NavigateMN.org.


Then we headed east to St. Paul (apparently there is a huge rivalry and no, the two cities are NOT actually one giant city with the same central downtown. Be prepared for ritual mocking should you make the same mistake I did). Our destination was The High School For Recording Arts, a charter-esque school offering musically oriented teenagers the opportunity to incorporate singing, recording and producing into their curriculum (they also let me have some studio time and lets just say, with a little synthesizing, anyone can sound like Britney Spears – no joke).



Ashoka’s Youth Venture has partnered with the school to actually teach a core course where students walk through the process of launching a venture over the course of a semester. I talked to them about the global movement, showed some of our awesome new videos then listened to them talk about what types of Ventures they were hoping to launch.



From a hip hop dance team to a youth-oriented record label that would offer at-risk youth an alternative to gangs and drugs, the whole class was turning their own struggles into real solutions that could help more young people avoid some of the struggles they had overcome. “It’s a blessing to be at this school and to get another chance,” Flo told me. “Now I gotta make the best of it and do good for someone else. That’s what it’s about.”



I couldn’t agree more.