Mission & values

Our Vision

A future where EVERYONE has what they need to feel safe, supported, and seen, and where education is accessible and extraordinary to support youth in figuring out the humans they want to be and how they want to show up in the world.

Our Mission

Equipping youth to share their ideas and values with the world through photography and art.

Our Values

We value photography as a powerful medium of change to create a healthy, vibrant, equitable, and just society. This belief is reflected in our core values:

Youth-Centered
We recognize youth as inherently valuable members of our community and champion youth voice.

Equity
We address disproportionality and social injustices by adopting policies and practices that are culturally responsive, sustainable, and provide youth access to the resources and skills they need to increase opportunity.

Creativity
We foster creativity as a vital tool that ignites curiosity and imagination, inspires reflection, provides an outlet for self-expression, and has the power to drive positive change.

Welcoming
We create an inclusive and supportive environment where lived experience is incorporated to promote empathy, connection, and collaboration.

Learning
We prioritize a growth mindset, continuous development, perseverance, and resilience through technical, artistic, and life skills.

JoyWe infuse a spirit of fun, humor, and celebration to uplift, build relationships, and strengthen the community.

Our Equity Statement

Youth in Focus believes in youth: we support youth, we center youth voices, and we advocate for them and the things that matter to them. As an organization that works in the photography and media space, we are acutely aware of the profound and powerful impact of images and video. We use photography and art as tools for expression, nurturing curiosity, dialogue, shared understanding, building community, and exploration of ideas and concepts across time and place.

Youth in Focus serves youth, staff, and volunteers from the global community who represent a diverse and wide spectrum of intersectional identities and lived experiences. As such, our community is affected by a history of white supremacy, institutionalized racism, sexism, ableism, genderism, ageism, homophobia, and more. We aim to create a safe and supportive environment for youth, and a transformed
future shaped by their voices - and that commitment extends beyond the walls and hours of our programs. We proudly utilize photography as a powerful medium of change to create a healthy, vibrant, more equitable, and just society.

Youth in Focus is committed to equity through:

  • Preparing youth to succeed and thrive in education, life, and/or career through our full range of programming, ensuring a community of support, and providing resources
  • Reducing the opportunity gap in access to the arts by offering free programming and meeting students in their own community
  • Creating a sense of belonging where youth are honored and accepted as their authentic selves
  • Ensuring we have programming specifically tailored to BIPOC youth to allow them to explore photography through the lenses of their experiences
  • Employing staff/teaching artists who reflect our students’ identities and lived experiences
  • Implementing a Youth Advisory Board to ensure youth voice is represented in organizational decision-making
  • Paying artists for their work and creative labor

Support our Students work

All student work is available for purchase! Contact us to order.

Order Prints
Our accessible programming is made possible in part by support from our amazing partners!