Young Women’s Advisory Council

The Young Women’s Advisory Council (YWAC) is a council built on advocacy, leadership, civic engagement training and the notion that young women of color can drive the policy change they want to see.

YWAC is central and core to the Young Women’s Initiative

Young Women’s Initiative (YWI) is a place-based, cross-sector initiative focused on centering the advocacy of young women of color and amplifying their leadership to increase opportunities and life outcomes for themselves, their families, and their communities. The first Young Women’s Initiative began in New York City under the leadership of Girls for Gender Equity, and the partnership of The New York Women’s Foundation and the New York City Council. Today, Women’s Foundations see this work as critical to their equity framework and goals of advancing gender and racial equity. WOCC has partnered with the Women’s Foundation of Greater Memphis to establish the Young Women’s Initiative here in Nashville as part of a statewide expansion.

Join the YWAC to explore issues affecting your community and implement your ideas to reduce their effects.

Through an immersive learning experience, the Cohort moves Black women toward fully realizing our power and autonomy while developing a toolkit for navigating the professional landscape. 

Are you interested? Let us know! Submit the form below to be the first to know when the next cycle starts.

YWAC Member Criteria

  • Participant’s age between 17 – 24

  • Have an interest in leadership development training, participatory leadership, advocacy, and service to the community.

  • Support and create social change to better support young women and girls of color in their community.

Program Schedule

Spring Seminars (February - April)
In the spring, we will acclimate youth to WOCC and YWI background and frameworks and orient the group to the Action Plan.

Intergenerational Retreat (May)
We’ll end the season with an opportunity for community building and mentoring.

Summer Program (June - September)
Over the summer, we will develop tasks and events to support project implementation informed by the timelines and actions developed in the spring.

Fall Wrap Up (October)
The programming year will end with an intensive to reflect on the year, dive deeper into the stories that emerged in 2025, and plan for 2026.

YWAC Members Will:

  • Attend 80% of YWAC meetings and be an active participant in meeting discussions.

  • Advance the recommendations and key areas of focus identified by WOCC’s wisdom circle: community safety, representation, and access to healthcare

  • Engage in participatory governance, civic engagement and youth organizing.

  • Participate in additional learning, developmental, and social justice opportunities.

  • Participate in end of program presentation to showcase accomplishments of YWAC members.

WOCC/T.I.M.E.

Summer Work Experience

WOCC/T.I.M.E. Summer Work Experience

In 2020, we adapted our flagship program, the Collaborative Cohort, for high school students in our summer work experience. In addition to equipping them with job readiness skills and providing a strong foundation for optimal decision making, we guided young women through assessing social justice issues from systems analysis to personal impact. Utilizing the tools of storytelling, photovoice, videography, and graphic design to explore their unique story of self, in relation to larger advocacy efforts, the group wrote and produced short documentaries exploring issues of their choosing.