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Advancing Toward Our Best

ADVANCING

TOWARD OUR BEST

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by Catherine Klene

The American Youth Foundation is dedicated to forming transformational, inclusive program communities at Merrowvista

and Miniwanca. In May, AYF leadership invited alumni, families, and participants to gather online for Advancing Toward Our Best, a webinar to learn more about how the organization plans to further that goal in the next few years.

“The pandemic gave us the opportunity to listen to the needs of youth today,” said President Anna Kay Vorsteg. “Life in 2022 calls us to do better, to support participants through difficult and sometimes scary times.”

The AYF has spent the last two years listening to staff and participants discuss how programs can be safer, more welcoming spaces for all. “To be their best selves, youth must be able to be their authentic selves,” Vorsteg said. “The AYF is committed to creating inclusive spaces for all participants, especially people of color and LGBTQ+ youth."

To help lead the organization toward this multifaceted goal, the AYF welcomed Ambrean Ford to a new role, Director of Community Life, Diversity, and Inclusion, in late 2021. Ford holds a master’s degree in social work, spent years as a seasonal staff member at Miniwanca and Merrowvista, and is a member of the inaugural class of Mulcahy Fellows.

“It’s so important to support our words with real, measurable action,” Ford said. “The AYF is leaning into those difficult yet rewarding conversations. We are building strong foundations to make greater change.”

One key element of this work was the creation of the AYF’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee in February 2022. This 16-member committee is currently assessing the AYF’s larger mission and values through a DEI lens and developing a strategic plan with actionable steps to support those objectives. “It is important the committee represent different demographics, identities, and experiences within the AYF, including the amount of time spent with the organization,” Ford said. “The committee includes people who have experienced programs at Miniwanca, Merrowvista, and National Leadership Conference.”

Director of Community Life, Diversity and Inclusion Ambrean Ford leads staff training.

Mulcahy Fellow Emrys Yamanishi (third from left) with their cabin at Miniwanca

Ford is also responsible for coordinating the Mulcahy Fellowship, an initiative that intentionally honors, supports, and uplifts seasonal staff who identify as historically underrepresented members in AYF program communities. The fellowship addresses the lack of diversity in program leadership positions and recognizes that individuals who hold these identities provide more emotional labor than other camp staff. Today, there are 25 fellows, 10 of whom gathered at Miniwanca this year for the first Mulcahy Fellowship retreat. Ford said the group will meet annually to connect prior to summer staff training. The AYF has also made physical, cultural, and social changes through site updates. At Miniwanca, murals in the I Dare You library and Upper Lodge were removed due to extensive water damage and harmful depictions of Indigenous people and people of color. The camp will replace the murals with art that celebrates all youth.

Merrowvista took steps to make transgender and gender-expansive community members feel more welcome by constructing a new restroom and shower house that includes nongendered single showers and bathrooms.

“The Mulcahy Fellowship retreat gives us an opportunity to bond and for older fellows to mentor the incoming class,” she said. “It also gives us the chance to plan long term, laying out our vision for the future of the fellowship.” Miniwanca and Merrowvista also recognize that some site names at camp appropriated Indigenous cultures. These places are now referred to by their English translations or renamed to focus on creating community, such as the newly renamed Community Fire Circles.

The AYF is also working with Jen “Dusty” Clitheroe and Polly Williams, co-founders of Strength Perspective, a DEI consultancy. Clitheroe and Williams connect regularly with Ford and the DEI committee, met with the Board of Directors in March, and facilitated seasonal staff training sessions at Merrowvista and Miniwanca this summer. “We recognize changes like these can be difficult for some, but our most beloved camp memories come from life-shaping experiences in our program communities, not from physical structures or names,” Vorsteg said. “The timeless goals of best self and balanced living are the strong foundation for the next 100 years of the AYF. We invite the AYF community to advance with us as we inspire more people to make a positive difference in the world.”

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