Youth Radio announced its reopening on Monday with an Instagram reel showing staff unlocking the building in downtown Oakland where the organization had been housed since 2007.

The youth nonprofit was founded in 1993 by journalist Ellin O’Leary to “hand the mic to young people,” in her words, by providing training in media, music, podcasting, design, and offering a platform for them to tell their own stories.

Since then, the organization launched the careers of Bay Area youth Pendarvis Harshaw, now a KQED culture reporter; hip-hop artist and producer Iamsu!; R&B artist 1-OAK; and Oliver “Kuya” Rodriguez of the hip-hop collective HBK Gang.

Other alumni include Oakland educator Leon Sykes, who taught for several years at Fremont High School. He started at the organization as an intern and went on to become staff. During his time with the organization, Sykes hosted the radio show “Streets is Talking” on All Day Play.

The nonprofit had been shuttered for two years after facing financial issues related to an expansion. By the fall of 2024, the organization was unable to fulfill its payroll obligations, and the nonprofit finally shuttered that November. 

Youth Radio, which had rebranded as YR Media along the way, is back with its original name under the helm of Maeven McGovern, a longtime Youth Radio employee. KQED was first to report about the reopening.

McGovern began at the organization as the coordinator of its health education work in 2008. She moved on in 2021, but she told The Oaklandside that she kept in touch with O’Leary and others as they worked behind the scenes to revive the organization.

McGovern said she reached out to help and then was formally brought on board a year ago as a program evaluation consultant. She was hired as the new executive director in November.

She said the organization is relaunching with a staff consisting of herself, three volunteer board members, three media instructors, and a program manager, plus a handful of consultants who assist with tasks like human resources and tech support.

The organization’s first two youth cohorts arrived on June 24. One group is made up of high school students, and the second of young adults between the ages of 18 and 24.

“We are being cautious and wanting to make sure that we’re prioritizing the sustainability of the organization above all else,” she said. “We’re going to grow thoughtfully and with intention.”

A year and a half ago, O’Leary told The Oaklandside that despite the closure, she and others were working on restoring the organization to its core mission of being an “educational and award winning media voice for Oakland and East Bay youth.”

“With 25 years of alumni and tremendous community support,” she said then, “you’ll see and hear YR live again.”

“We found so much support from places we didn’t expect,” O’Leary said of that process. “From our insurance company, from the bank, from many alumni. This reopening was powered by alumni staff, students who came to try and ensure that the organization continued, and that it retained ownership of the building.”

O’Leary said there was a lot of debt to pay off before the organization could reopen. Key funding, she said, came from Community Vision, Elevate Youth California, and the California Wellness Foundation.

For now, the organization will operate on a small scale to see how the new vision works out.

“It’s essentially taking the essence of what Youth Radio was,” she said. “A new group of staff and young people will make something new, that’s how we’re looking at it.”

Sykes, the former staffer, was one of the first to comment on the announced reopening. He told The Oaklandside in a text message that he is happy to see Youth Radio back.

“This is a program that gave a lot of us skills to build careers and even teach others,” he said.

Youth Radio is hosting an open house on Friday, June 26, from 5 to 7 p.m. with live music, free food and drinks for anyone who wants to learn about the organization. 

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