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Our Organization
Young Adults Development Network (YDN)
Built by Youth. Grounded in Legacy. Driven by Purpose.
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Every generation reaches a point where silence is no longer an option and waiting is no longer acceptable. The Young Adults Development Network (YDN) was born from such a moment. It was not created as a reaction but as a deliberate act of vision, crafted by organizers, rooted in lived experience, and committed to raising a generation of principled, prepared, and fearless leaders.
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This is not a program. It's a movement. A blueprint for how young people, especially those who come from the margins, can stand at the center of change, locally, nationally, and globally.
Why Join YDN?
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Transformational Leadership Training
National & Global Advocacy Opportunities
Professional & Academic Advancement
Exclusive Access to Events & Conferences
Lifelong Network of Young Changemakers
Identity, Purpose & Power Reclaimed
Lead From the Margins, Influence the Center
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Built by Youth. Grounded in Legacy. Driven by Purpose.
A Vision
Too Strong
to Ignore
Our Beginning: A Conversation That Refused to End
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YDN emerged in 2025 from a meeting between two young leaders at the Friends Committee on National Legislation's Spring Lobby Weekend in Washington, D.C. Fiston Mututsi, a Congolese-born refugee and community organizer shaped by the trauma of war and the strength of survival, and Serge Kagabo, a pastor mentoring displaced youth through healing, faith, and leadership.
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They did not come from power or privilege. But they came with a purpose. They did not have institutional funding. But they had urgency. They didn't wait for permission. They started with what they had.
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That's what real organizers do.
Mission & Vision
Our Vision
A society where young adult has the opportunity and support to become an active participant in advocacy efforts, driving social movements, and contributing to a more equitable world.
Our Mission
To empower young adults through education, advocacy, and community engagement, fostering leadership skills and promoting social justice to create positive change within communities.
Our Impact
Foster leadership skills and promote social justice to create positive change within communities
A Dream That Would Not Be Silenced
What We Stand For
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At the core of YDN is a simple but radical belief: Young people, especially those whose lives have been shaped by injustice, are the most qualified to lead us forward.
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We don't teach youth how to mimic leadership; we teach them how to live it. We don't raise followers, we raise architects, disruptors, thinkers, healers, and builders.
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Our network provides long-term leadership development, mentorship, political education, and spiritual grounding. It trains young people how to move in rooms of power without losing their authenticity, and how to build new rooms when those in power refuse to open their doors.​​​​​​
This isn't nonprofit work. This is nation-building work.
If You're Reading This, You Are Already Part of the Story
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If you're a young person searching for purpose… If you've been told you're too early, too angry, too poor, too Black, too immigrant, too bold… If you're ready to rise but don't know where to start.
You are the reason we exist.
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We are your launchpad, your mirror, your community. We will challenge you, prepare you, walk with you, and when the time comes, we will stand behind you as you step into your calling.
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Join the Movement. Carry the Fire.
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The Young Adults Development Network is not waiting for change. We are training the leaders who will make it happen.
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You are not too young. You are not too late. And we are not too small to make history.
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Let's build what the world has never seen. Together.
BUILT BY YOUTH.
DRIVEN BY PURPOSE.
We are not waiting for change; we are building it. Every step we take is a declaration that young people hold the power to shape the future with courage, vision, and integrity.