A Wilson High School senior has received the top annual youth honor from an international organization that promotes volunteer service and leadership.
Athena Worley was named the 2026 Youth Volunteer Corps International Youth of the Year during the organization’s Youth Leadership Summit recently in New Orleans.
Athena Worley, a Wilson High School senior, was named the 2026 Youth Volunteer Corps International Youth of the Year during the organization’s Youth Leadership Summit recently in New Orleans. (Courtesy of VOiCEup Berks)
Worley, a longtime participant in Youth Volunteer Corps of Reading, was selected from among more than 9,000 young people who participated in Youth Volunteer Corps programs around the world during the past year.
She also received the organization’s World Changer Award for completing more than 1,000 hours of service through the Reading program.
Worley joined Youth Volunteer Corps of Reading in 2019 and has logged 1,003 hours of service over seven years.
“Receiving the YVC International Youth of the Year Award is an incredible honor, but more importantly, it represents the power of young people to create meaningful change in their communities,” Worley said in a statement.
Youth Volunteer Corps of Reading is a program of VOiCEup Berks, a nonprofit that provides service-learning and leadership opportunities for young people in Berks County.
During her seven years with the program, Worley served on local and international youth advisory boards, helped develop and lead youth initiatives and participated in numerous community service projects.
She devoted nearly 400 hours to Canstructure, the Reading program’s annual service learning competition combining engineering and construction with efforts to combat hunger. Over seven competitions, Worley helped teams design and construct structures using donated canned goods while collecting thousands of pounds of food for local families.
The experience also helped Worley discover an interest in construction project management, which she plans to pursue as a career.
Christi Terefenko, co-founder and executive director of VOiCEup Berks, said Worley’s contributions go well beyond the number of hours she has volunteered.
“Athena came to YVC as a young person who wanted to serve, and over seven years we have watched her become an extraordinary leader,” Terefenko said. “What makes Athena so special isn’t simply the 1,000 hours she has given. It is the way she has learned to recognize a need, find her voice, bring people together and take action.”
More recently, Worley helped lead a Berks County Community Foundation and Youth Volunteer Corps of Reading Youth Advisory Board project addressing human trafficking.
Working with other students, the Berks County Human Trafficking Task Force and ZOE International, a Christian nonprofit combating human trafficking and the exploitation of children, Worley developed a workshop designed to educate community leaders and other stakeholders about human trafficking and its impact on young people.
She then took the issue back to Wilson, where she advocated for human-trafficking awareness training for adults.
Those efforts helped lead to an anti-trafficking workshop attended by more than 100 members of the Wilson School District transportation department.
“Athena doesn’t wait for someone else to solve a problem,” Terefenko said. “She sees an opportunity, uses her voice, brings others into the solution, and then carries what she learns back into her school and community.”
Youth Volunteer Corps is an international network that connects young people with service projects while helping them develop leadership and life skills.
VOiCEup Berks has operated the Reading affiliate since 2016, offering Youth Volunteer Corps programming for Berks youths ages 11 to 18.
Worley said she hopes the international recognition will encourage other young people to become involved in their communities.
“I hope this recognition inspires others to realize that their voices matter, their service makes a difference, and they have the power to shape a stronger future for their communities,” she said.