The following seven projects built coalitions, organized communities and advocated for positive youth development. Three projects worked at the national level, two at the state level and two in local communities.

National-Level Advocacy

• Campaign for African-American Achievement. The National Urban League, with support from RWJF, launched a national campaign to promote youth development. General Colin Powell presided over the initial induction ceremony. The program honored 5,000 youth in a two-year period. (See Program Results on ID# 031826.)
• National Media Campaign for Mentoring. The Harvard Mentoring Project, a national campaign to recruit mentors for youth, generated more than 1 million calls over a three-year period from interested volunteers. About 20 percent subsequently became mentors. (See Program Results on ID# 040878.)
• Policy-Makers Learn the Value of Youth Programming. Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, a national child advocacy organization, developed several reports for policy-makers about the value of publicly funded programs to strengthen youth and fragile families. The campaign generated news coverage for the organization, and helped the organization increase its membership base. (See Program Results on ID# 042818.)

State-Level Advocacy

• California Organization Promotes Mentoring. The California Mentor Foundation published a collection of the organization's experience and wisdom on the value of mentoring youth. The foundation's Web site, www.calmentor.com/getinvolved_beamentor.fsp, directs volunteers to mentoring programs throughout the state. (See Program Results on ID# 038663.)

Community-Level Organizing and Advocacy

• Community Organizing in South Central Los Angeles. Community organizers in South Central Los Angeles trained 15 adults and 10 high school youths to serve as community advocates for an anti-tobacco campaign based in low-income housing developments. The training program culminated with an event entitled A Day of Awareness and Prevention. For their other work with youth see PYD Projects for Urban Youth, Los Angeles. (See Program Results on ID# 038971.)
• Urban Beautification in Philadelphia. The Urban Tree Connection organized residents in a low-income neighborhood in Philadelphia who together cleaned up three blocks and created a park. More than 100 children participated in the program's after-school gardening program. (See Program Results on ID# 041308.)