On Saturday February 13, 2010, local young people participated in the Youth Call to Action and Leadership Round-table. The focus for the round-table was on HIV/AIDS prevention and other issues impacting the sexual health and well being of youth. The roundtable included both high school and college participants.  There was also a mix of young men and women from both the African-American and Latino Community.  The roundtable was successfully moderated by Alex Dixon, President of the LVCC-Urban League Young Professionals.  The nearly three hour discussion had all participants fully engaged as they openly discussed those personal and societal barriers they identified as being the culprits of the lack of awareness and education among their peers.  Youth unanimously agreed to launch a youth lead campaign. 

• Key Ideas Emerging From The Round-table: 

• A need to create a “vision” for our lives that establish higher expectations. 

• The support network should include parents, faith Leaders, and community leaders.

• A need for age appropriate discussions on sex throughout life and schools that will support a sexual health curriculum. 

• Accessibility, affordability, and availability are often barriers for youth who need the resources to    protect themselves.

• A need for peers to be able to have open and honest discussions with each other.

• A need to follow up after this discussion and determine what should happen next.

Follow Up:  On February 27th TRENDZ Inc. held their first follow up meeting to identify what their campaign will look like.  Youth who attended brainstormed and voted on a vision, goals, and groups that should be targeted throughout the campaign.  They also voted on a campaign name and campaign time frame.  Those details are expected to be released as their plan starts to take shape!