Youth as Health Care Change Agents

Youth as Health Care Change Agents: Investing in Youth-Led Solutions for Community Health Across Eastern Massachusetts

Overview

Launched in 2024, in this 5-year initiative, we are investing $28.8 million to fund youth-led community health solutions in cities and neighborhoods across Eastern Massachusetts.

We're pleased to share the full initial evaluation report in partnership with Community Science, along with showcases of our seven grantee partners' work in program year 1.

Outcomes from program year 1 (2024-25):

  • Our grantee partners have engaged nearly 100 youth leader participants and reached almost 7,000 youth.

  • Youth participants reported increases in youth leadership, self efficacy, confidence leading others, belonging, social connection, and emotional well-being.

  • Areas for strengthening include supports for youth as they enter postsecondary education, more sustained youth leadership and advocacy opportunities, and further embedding these programs in schools, healthcare and other community institutions.
Initial Evaluation Report by Community Science

Background

We heard directly from community leaders that economic mobility, educational opportunity, and youth investment are important to close the life expectancy gap across neighborhoods in Eastern Massachusetts.

As a result of this community engagement and our belief that we must all come together to achieve health equity, this initiative aims to cultivate a pathway of community-based organizations that are creating, launching, and sustaining innovative youth-driven efforts to meet community health needs and close life expectancy gaps.

With this investment, community-based organizations will provide youth with financial support, health education, and health career pathways to identify, develop, and implement solutions for their community’s health needs, now and in the future. Grantees are anchoring collaborative, community-based efforts to address pressing community health priorities, such as cardiometabolic disease or mental health and substance abuse.

Grantee & Program Summaries

  • Hometown Healthcare Academy supports Brockton High School (BHS) youth in grades 9-12 and recent graduates up to age 20 through layered health career exploration and training opportunities. Implemented in partnership with Brockton Neighborhood Health Center (BNHC), Haitian Community Partners, Cape Verdean Association, and BHS, the program combines community expertise to create a pathway into health education, health advocacy, and health professions. Its components include a youth-led council responsible for developing school and community health initiatives and guiding peer health education topics, as well as a workforce training track that prepares BHS seniors for certifications such as Dental Assistant, Medical Assistant, Community Health Worker, and Medical Interpreter, with preceptor support from BNHC clinicians.

  • Youth as Changemakers supports Boston youth across the Fields Corner Crossroads Collaborative through a youth leadership and healthcare career pathway program. Implemented in partnership with All Dorchester Sports and Leadership, the Asian American Resource Workshop, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Dorchester, DotHouse Health, the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute, the Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health, New England Community Project, and the Vietnamese American Initiative for Development, Youth as Changemakers draws on the expertise of organizations specializing in healthcare, advocacy, economic and youth development, and civic engagement to empower young people as leaders strengthening the Dorchester community. 

    The Crossroads Youth Council (CYC) is a collaborative hub for youth empowerment and leadership development. It brings together young people from across various organizations to form a unified body that drives advocacy, community engagement, and social justice initiatives. The CYC functions as a platform where youth can organize around critical issues such as education, mental health, and substance use disorders, while also participating in participatory budgeting processes that give them a direct say in how community resources are allocated. The CYC is designed to equip youth leaders with the knowledge necessary to participate meaningfully in a participatory budgeting process focused on addressing mental health and SUDs in the community. The Youth Ambassadors component of the program creates a pathway for Crossroads Youth Council members to intern at various sites within the Crossroads network, exposing them to potential careers in the healthcare sector, advocacy fields, and broader leadership opportunities.

  • Youth Promotores – Community Health Worker Training Program for Underserved

    This program empowers Chelsea youth by guiding them on a fulfilling career pathway as Community Health Workers (CHWs). Participants embark on an immersive journey, clocking over 1,600 hours of hands-on experience that intertwines career exploration, professional development, and community service.

    Led by La Colaborativa, the program fosters essential skills through comprehensive training in public health, wraparound services, technical and digital tools, and advocacy for underserved communities and families. Participants dive into real-world experiences through internships at reputable healthcare and human service institutions such as Cambridge Health Alliance, Mass General Brigham, Harbor Area Family Resource Center, New Health Charlestown, and Victory Programs.

    By the end of the program, these young professionals not only meet all the requirements to become certified Community Health Workers, but they also craft impressive professional profiles that showcase their advocacy and leadership within the community, shaping future leaders of health and wellness.

  • Youth as Health Care Change Agents supports Lawrence youth through health career development, youth leadership, and mental health and wellness programming. Implemented in partnership with, Lawrence CommunityWorks, Merrimack Health, Greater Lawrence Family Health Center, Youth Development Organization, ACT Lawrence, SquashBusters Lawrence, Groundwork Lawrence, Elevated Thought, Top Notch Scholars, and Boston College School of Social Work, the program brings together community, health care, youth development, and art-based social justice expertise to create pathways into health career exposures and training. The health-career development component offers internship cohorts that introduce youth to hospital departments such as infusion, pharmacy, and information systems, along with a pre-pathway program that supports personalized advising on education and career pathways. The stipended leadership cadre, drawn from partner community-based organizations and directly from the broader Lawrence community, builds youth capacity in health leadership, community organizing, communication, and outreach. Together, these efforts aim to prepare Lawrence youth for future careers in healthcare, strengthen leadership and well-being, and cultivate a new generation of health care change agents who help shape community-driven solutions and improve the health outcomes for their neighborhoods.

  • The Lynn Community Health Center Student Fellowship Program empowers 70 high school students in Lynn, Massachusetts to become informed health advocates and future healthcare leaders. It targets youth aged roughly 15–20 from neighborhoods facing health disparities, offering mentorship, hands-on learning, and real-world exposure to a wide range of healthcare careers. Participants engage in health education, advocacy work, and career exploration through job shadowing, “day in the life” sessions, and community projects. The program also builds students’ leadership, civic engagement, and practical skills while helping them understand and address key health issues in their families and community. Through these experiences, the fellowship aims to close health gaps in Lynn and inspire a new generation committed to health equity and community wellbeing.

  • Healthy Youth and Parents Through Partnership and Empowerment (HYPPE), led by Greater Lowell Health Alliance, supports 70-80 teens a year in Lowell through partnerships with schools and youth-serving organizations including Project Learn, Girls Inc of Greater Lowell, the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Lowell, Butler Middle School and Lowell Public Schools. The program engages youth in a structured curriculum designed to strengthen both health outcomes and career readiness in health-related fields. Core components include exposure to health careers and college pathways, community leadership development, financial literacy, and mental health education, paired with experiential opportunities such as mentorship, career exploration, and youth-led community health initiatives.

  • Mattapan Food and Fitness Coalition's Vigorous Youth Leaders supports youth in Mattapan and surrounding communities through a holistic program focused on youth development, health and nutrition, and health and transportation advocacy. The program also exposes participants to a wide range of health-related careers while strengthening their leadership, research, and advocacy skills. Vigorous Youth Leaders is offered in partnership with the Mattapan Food and Fitness Coalition (MFFC), the Boston Organization of Nutritionists and Dietitians of Color (BOND of Color), MIT Department of Urban Studies and Planning, WalkMassachusetts, Mattapan Community Health Center, and additional community partners. 

    Youth participants actively engage in—and co-lead—MFFC community health initiatives, including Mattapan on Wheels, the Mattapan Square Farmers Market, and community gardens. They take part in nutrition workshops led by BOND of Color and have participated in an eight-week session with Northeastern University exploring how artificial intelligence technologies influence physical activity. Through collaboration with MIT, youth learn Youth Participatory Action Research methods, develop potential public health and built-environment research projects, and explore how technology can be used to address real-world community challenges. Lastly, youth attend lunch and learns with our health related partners, exposing them to health career fields while building their network.

  • Youth as Health Change Agents, implemented in partnership with The BASE and Boston Community Pediatrics, builds on The BASE’s model of using sports and athletics to promote youth success in Roxbury, Dorchester, and Mattapan by integrating a Youth Health Board, a healthcare career track, physical and mental health workshops and activities, into the sports-focused strength and conditioning opportunities they offer. The Youth Health Board has regularly participated in a series of healthy-eating and mind–body wellness workshops and has spearheaded a healthy-eating campaign for other youth at The BASE, with the goal of youth eventually leading more health and wellness campaigns in the local community. Youth in the program also regularly participate in sessions that expose them to careers in the health field, with the hopes of facilitating a pathway into health careers.

In announcing these grants, we wish to honor the memory of Jack Connors, Jr., who served on the Founding Board of the Foundation. Jack insisted that the Foundation take big, bold steps to close the gap in life expectancy and was particularly dedicated to supporting youth to become the leaders of tomorrow.

Solutions Designed in Community

We supported grantees to conduct community design sessions that engaged youth and families to co-create their programs. Over their funding period, each grantee will work in partnership with other organizations, youth and family in their communities, to support youth in their full potential as health educators, health navigators, future health care professionals, and advocates for policy and systems change.

Our grant program has been directly designed with and for young people.

Community design workshops focused on youth as powerful agents of change.

Youth designed alongside their families, like these participants from Brockton.

Dorchester youth review life expectancy maps and health data in Boston.

Lawrence youth define health in their community.

Lowell youth share potential health solutions.

Photo credit: EmVision Productions