About Youth Voices Center
Founded in 2008, Youth Voices Center is a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing positive youth development for adolescents across New York State. Through its evidence-informed Power of Peace program, Youth Voices Center partners with schools, districts, and community organizations to support students’ social-emotional growth, leadership development, and overall well-being. The program is delivered in schools, community centers, and youth-serving organizations and focuses on strengthening leadership skills, collaboration, decision-making, conflict resolution, cultural awareness, and respect for self and others.
Adolescence is a critical developmental period when students face increasing academic, social, and emotional pressures. Power of Peace was designed to proactively address these challenges by providing students with structured opportunities to build resilience, positive identity, and healthy relationships. The program is grounded in Executive Director Michael Arterberry’s more than 30 years of professional experience as a social worker and counselor working with youth in diverse settings, combined with best practices in youth development. By partnering with educators and community leaders, Youth Voices Center helps schools foster safer, more connected learning environments while equipping young people with the skills they need to succeed in school and beyond.
Target Population
Population Served and Community Need
Youth Voices Center delivers the Power of Peace program to adolescents ages 12–18 across New York State, partnering with diverse schools, community centers, and youth-serving organizations. The program is intentionally designed to meet the needs of students from a wide range of cultural, social, and economic backgrounds, with a particular focus on communities experiencing systemic barriers to educational success.
Many of the schools served by Youth Voices Center are designated by the New York State Education Department as high-needs, facing persistent challenges related to poverty, lower on-time graduation rates, and increased exposure to community and school-based stressors. These factors often contribute to higher levels of interpersonal conflict, disengagement, and unmet social-emotional needs among students—conditions that directly affect school climate and academic outcomes.
Youth Voices Center addresses this critical need by partnering with educators and administrators to provide students with structured, developmentally appropriate opportunities to build resilience, strengthen positive identity, and develop the social-emotional and leadership skills essential for healthy relationships and safe, supportive learning environments. Through this work, Youth Voices Center supports schools in reducing conflict, improving student engagement, and creating conditions in which all young people can realize their full potential.
Goals, Intended Outcomes, and School-Level Impact
The primary goal of Youth Voices Center is to promote positive youth development while reducing the risk of interpersonal conflict and violence among adolescents. This goal is achieved through the strategic implementation of the Power of Peace program with a diverse and representative group of students within each participating school, community center, or youth organization. By engaging a broad cross-section of youth, the program is designed to positively influence peer norms and contribute to safer, more inclusive school communities.
Power of Peace supports students in challenging negative self-perceptions and stereotypes, strengthening empathy, and developing the social-emotional competencies essential for healthy relationships, responsible decision-making, and constructive conflict resolution. As students gain greater self-awareness and understanding of others, they are better equipped to engage positively with peers and adults and to contribute to a respectful, supportive school climate.
Expected Participant Outcomes include:
- Increased self-confidence and positive self-identity
- Increased cultural awareness and respect for diversity
- Increased empathy and perspective-taking skills
- Increased self-awareness and understanding of others
School-Level Impact
At the school and organizational level, implementation of the Power of Peace program supports broader climate and culture goals. Schools partnering with Youth Voices Center report improved peer relationships, stronger student engagement, and a more positive sense of belonging among participants. By reinforcing shared values of respect, accountability, and inclusion, the program complements existing social-emotional learning initiatives and helps create learning environments where students feel safe, supported, and empowered to succeed academically and socially.