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Yuri Kochiyama Leadership Initiative (YKLI)

An annual four-month intensive introductory human rights training series for Bay Area young women ages 14-23.


Left, participants in YKLI 2004 learn about imperialism with a map of the world. Right, a panel of Revolutionary women features guests such as community organizer Cindy Weisner (left) and Cultural Activist, Eman Desouky (right).

The institute provided a space to address and discuss issues. Through the discussion I was exposed to different perspectives and better articulate what I thought for myself. –2004 YKLI Participant

It never really crossed my mind about how many human rights are violated everyday. It gave me new knowledge which then made me want to act and change things.–2004 YKLI Participant

Young women in the United States continue to face multiple layers of discrimination and violence within their families, communities and by the state, because of their sex, race, ethnicity, class, sexual orientation, physical and mental ability and age. The experience of systematic discrimination compromises the physical, mental and reproductive health of young women, impacts their ability to achieve economic independence, makes them further susceptible to violence and limits their leadership and decision making abilities. Young women, who are of color, immigrants or poor, face an even more grave and challenging situation, because the forms that discrimination take in their lives are compounded and interconnected. While discrimination persists, the mechanisms that provided some level of protection for women and girls are rapidly disappearing. Without basic safety nets, such as healthcare and welfare, and good public schools, young women believe that they have few options to improve the quality of their lives and break the cycle of poverty, violence and oppression. All of these factors have led to the scarcity of young women of color and poor young women in leadership and decision making positions within grassroots, national and public policy organizations, and local, state and national government.

WILD believes that when young women learn about human rights in combination with leadership training, they are not only able to articulate, but also act on their beliefs. All of this training is done within the framework of human rights because it is a system that supports cross-constituency, multi-issue and multi-identity organizing. Curriculum starts from the participants' own experiences and leads them through a series of exercises and discussions on the international human rights system to make the connection between violations occurring in their communities, schools and homes and the concept of human dignity and basic needs that are laid out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Through exercises on power dynamics and cultural, ethnic and community differences, WILD integrates an analysis on race, ethnicity, class, sexual orientation, gender and ability. Thus, by providing a structured space for dialogue and a safe environment for the young women to share their life experiences, WILD enables them to learn about their differences, challenge each other's perceptions and gain a new understanding of their position in society. WILD challenges young women to step outside of their safety zone, to question the policies that impact their lives and communities, and to think of innovative ways to end the discrimination and violations they experience on an everyday basis. Ultimately, the young women who participate in the Yuri Kochiyama Leadership Initiative will be better equipped to assume positions of leadership and decision-making power on behalf of their communities and to consider social change as a possible field for their life's work.