Events

We have taken part in eight public events since June 2024. They are where our members meet the people who write and vote on the laws we read, and where we train our own members. Here they are, newest first.

Every event so far

24 July 2026

Summer 2026 Conference: Youth Policy Advocacy Training

Online. 113 people signed up.

Two hours of training on how a young person takes part in policy. Five speakers had twenty minutes each, the last five for questions: Ted Lieu on Congress and the future of AI, Judy Chu on the next generation of AAPI leaders, Aisha Baro on the Farmworker Health Equity Express, Patrick Ahrens on turning community needs into legislative action, and Josh Becker on turning local problems into policy. We closed with a poll on the community issue members thought most impactful.

The full recording is below.

Speakers: California State Senator Josh Becker, Congresswoman Judy Chu, Congressman Ted Lieu, California Assembly Member Patrick Ahrens, and Aisha Baro, Executive Director of Life Science Cares Bay Area.

The conference poster.

A one page agenda headed YCEI Summer 2026 Conference, Youth Policy Advocacy Training, Friday July 24 2026, 10:30 am to 12:30 pm PT, virtual on Zoom, hosted by Youth Civic Engagement Initiative and described in the subheading as a national organization founded in 2024. It sets out seven timed blocks, from a welcome by David Liu through twenty minute blocks for Ted Lieu, Judy Chu, Aisha Baro, Patrick Ahrens and Josh Becker, the last five minutes of each left for questions, to a closing poll on the most impactful community issue. — The agenda for the two hours.

Watch the recording on YouTube

28 March 2026

Team volunteer day with the Farmworker Health Equity Express

Half Moon Bay, CA. In person.

Our members spent the day at a mushroom farm with the Farmworker Health Equity Express. We helped provide mental health support services to the farm workers and their children, organized the lunch, and distributed food at the local food pantry. We also invited the local sheriff’s office to talk with the workers.

The bus is a mobile resource center run by ALAS.

10 December 2025

Fundraiser for the Farmworker Health Equity Express

Hillsborough, CA. In person.

An evening fundraiser for a new healthcare equipped bus to provide onsite health support to farm workers in California. The evening raised over $100,000 for a new bus, as we published at the time.

A student in a suit standing beside the Farmworker Health Equity Express, a brightly painted double decker bus lettered ALAS Mobile Resource Center, with a red carpet and rope barrier laid at its open door. — The bus at our fundraiser, December 2025.

Guests standing indoors at an evening reception, listening to a speaker beside display boards of photographs of the bus. — The reception in Hillsborough.

August 2025

Political leaders interview on youth mental health

Hillsborough, CA. In person.

At an evening reception our members spoke with California Governor Gavin Newsom about youth mental health in California, and with Congresswoman Judy Chu about immigration policy making and youth mental health in the AAPI community.

Spoke with: Governor Gavin Newsom and Congresswoman Judy Chu.

A student in a suit holding a Youth Civic Engagement Initiative sign beside Governor Gavin Newsom at an evening reception. — With Governor Gavin Newsom, August 2025.

A student in a suit and Congresswoman Judy Chu holding a Youth Civic Engagement Initiative sign on a terrace. — With Congresswoman Judy Chu, August 2025.

7 to 8 September 2024

Seminar on policy advocacy training

Sunnyvale, CA and online. 20 members took part.

Two days of policy advocacy training, run in the room and on a call at the same time.

Invited speakers: Santa Clara County Supervisor Otto Lee, Santa Clara County Supervisor Margaret Abe-Koga, Forward Party chair Andrew Yang, and Congressman Ted Lieu.

21 to 23 July 2024

Co-host: Asian American Women Leaders Retreat

Los Gatos, CA. In person.

We co-hosted this three day retreat with its organizers.

Speakers: Congresswoman Judy Chu, Congressman Ted Lieu, California State Treasurer Fiona Ma, Forward Party chair Andrew Yang, and The Asian American Foundation chief executive Norman Chen.

Students and adults posed on a low stage in front of a banner reading Asian American Women Leaders Training Retreat 2024, beside a United States flag. — The retreat, July 2024.

A student shaking hands with a woman in a hall, in front of the Asian American Women Leaders Training Retreat 2024 banner. — At the retreat in Los Gatos.

1 to 5 July 2024

YCEI Leadership Training Camp

Los Gatos, CA. In person. 12 members took part.

Five days of leadership training for twelve of our members, billed on its own banner as youth civic engagement and political campaign leadership training.

Speakers: presidential candidate coach Michael Chad Hoeppner, Andrew Yang, and Congressman Ted Lieu.

A trainer standing and speaking to students seated on a low stage, under a blue banner reading Youth Civic Engagement and Political Campaign Leadership Training Camp. — Our leadership training camp, July 2024.

8 June 2024

YCEI kickoff meeting

San Jose, CA and online, 3:00 to 5:00 PM PT.

Our first event, held in San Jose and on a call at the same time. This is where we started.

Five young panellists seated in front of a wall of white and black balloons and United States flags, facing rows of seated guests. — Our kickoff meeting, June 2024.

More photographs

A few more pictures from our first two years.

Three people standing indoors at an evening reception: a man in a dark jacket, a student in a navy suit and tie, and a woman in a purple dress wearing a Life Science Cares Bay Area vest and a name badge reading Aisha Baro, beside a painted panel of a flowered bus. — Aisha Baro of Life Science Cares Bay Area with our founder David Liu.

Two students holding a Youth Civic Engagement Initiative sign on either side of a man in a dark suit, in front of a Chinese American Youth Civic Leadership Institute backdrop. — Members with our sign, 2024.

Seven people standing behind a seated young woman who holds a large blue sign reading Youth Civic Engagement Initiative, in front of a printed backdrop for the Chinese American Youth Civic Leadership Institute. — Members with our sign at a 2024 event.

Two students in dress shirts standing on either side of Andrew Yang outside a building at dusk. — With Andrew Yang in Los Gatos, July 2024.

A student and Andrew Yang giving a thumbs up while holding a Youth Civic Engagement Initiative sign at an outdoor gathering with picnic tables. — With Andrew Yang at an outdoor gathering.

About ten students and two adults sitting around a long wooden table in a cafe, with laptops, phones and drinks in front of them. — Members meeting around a table.

Students standing in a row with a man in a navy blazer in front of a wooden fence and a lattice screen in a garden. — Members at an outdoor event.

A woman in a white dress speaking to a small group on a sunny pavement beside a long bus painted with flowers and birds and lettered Farmworker Equity Express, ALAS, Mobile Resource Center, with paper banners strung overhead. — The Farmworker Health Equity Express at a community stop.

Coming up

Our next event will be posted here and on our Instagram as soon as it is set. If you would like an event where you live, the fastest way there is to start a chapter at your school.

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