YVote<\/a> \u2014 one of Brooklyn Org\u2019s Spark Prize winners \u2014 told Brooklyn Paper that the unprecedented surge in youth turnout stemmed from then-candidate Zohran Mamdani\u2019s ability to energize young voters by \u201cgiving them a seat at the table\u201d and listening to their concerns and feedback, particularly through social media.<\/p>\n\u201cI think that\u2019s what really made the difference to invigorate young people this past election season. I think if we want to continue with that same momentum, we have to continue to create seats at the table for young people,\u201d Frazer said. \u201cIn some instances, we even have to step aside, because they do have a lot of great ideas. They have a lot of great solutions, and they just need the resources and guidance to help see those things to fruition.\u201d<\/p>\n
Enter YVote, a youth-led nonprofit that empowers young people ages 14 to 18 to understand and engage in democracy through programs such as Democracy Camp, the Changemakers Institute, the Civic Fellowship and youth-led media teams. The initiatives introduce participants to the political landscape and equip them to lead and shape their communities.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what really makes us unique,\u201d Frazer said. \u201c[The young people] develop the curriculum, they facilitate the programs, they run all of our social media, and they are in partnership and collaboration with the adult allies, which includes myself, in planning and setting the vision and direction for the organization.\u201d<\/p>\n
Democracy Camp lays a foundation in civic knowledge and terminology while helping students understand themselves as changemakers. The Civic Fellowship, YVote\u2019s national program, connects participants with teens across the country to explore political issues, practice civil discourse and conduct collaborative research projects.<\/p>\n
The Changemakers program is \u201calmost like Democracy Camp 2.0,\u201d Frazer said, giving students the opportunity to present their solutions to local lawmakers.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThat program is really where the research and investigation begins. The young people are digging into what are the actual problems in and around New York City, and then they\u2019re creating tangible, actionable solutions that change makers can implement,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/SparkPrize_RonFrazerYVote-2.jpg\")
Ron Frazer, executive director of YVote, said the award reflects the hard work the organization\u2019s young people have put in.Photo by Gabriele Holtermann.<\/p>\n
Among the measures students have championed are the \u201cVote 16\u201d proposal, which would extend voting rights to 16- and 17-year-olds, and legislation to shift local elections to even-numbered years to coincide with federal elections, when turnout is typically higher.<\/p>\n
\u201cAside from that, our issue areas typically are racial justice, climate justice, food security, immigration, and education, and our young people have created different solutions in those very areas,\u201d Frazer said.<\/p>\n
Traditionally, YVote participants live in neighborhoods designated by the Taskforce on Racial Inclusion & Equity, or TRIE, created under the Adams administration. Those communities are often marginalized or disenfranchised and have historically had lower levels of civic participation.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo the young people that are coming to us from those neighborhoods, they\u2019re super passionate about civics. They have great leadership qualities. They\u2019re very interested in getting involved, but they don\u2019t know enough to take advantage of the opportunities. And so we connect them by leveraging and shortening that learning gap in civics,\u201d Frazer said.<\/p>\n
Amid deep political polarization, YVote recognizes that young people \u2014 and others \u2014 can face attacks over their political views and incorporates mental health awareness into its programming. The organization teaches self-care, how to recognize cyberbullying and when to disengage, and how to build safe support systems.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a psychologist on our board now who\u2019s really helping us think intentionally about social, emotional learning, and mental health elements in our curriculum, and also infusing those pieces into our training. So we\u2019re really thinking about that front as well, because we\u2019ve got to fortify our young people to support one another,\u201d Frazer said.<\/p>\n
Frazer told the Brooklyn Paper that the Spark Prize underscored the organization\u2019s credibility and could help attract additional donors and expand its network. He said YVote is always seeking guest speakers involved in politics and advocacy.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt really brings us great pleasure to have this award because it speaks to just all of the hard work that the young people have done. It\u2019s also brought great visibility to the organization and to the young people, and I\u2019m just happy that they are in the spotlight in this moment,\u201d Frazer said. \u201cIt allows us to continue to provide the resources and opportunities that young people from those TRIE neighborhoods and marginalized communities [which] won\u2019t necessarily have opportunities to get involved, and it really allows us to stay ahead of the curve.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"YVote participant and youth leader Ariel Segura and YVote Executive Director Randy Frazer attend the 2026 Spark Breakfast.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":151468,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[60905,13709,58015,2043,9,24,63,87,122,124,123,63349,63350],"class_list":{"0":"post-151467","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-queens","8":"tag-2026-spark-prize","9":"tag-brooklyn-org","10":"tag-brooklyn-org-spark-prize","11":"tag-civic-engagement","12":"tag-new-york","13":"tag-new-york-city","14":"tag-nyc","15":"tag-politics","16":"tag-queens","17":"tag-queens-headlines","18":"tag-queens-news","19":"tag-youth-engagement","20":"tag-yvote"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151467","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=151467"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151467\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/151468"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151467"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=151467"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=151467"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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