How To Make Change Series

Through the summer, we’ll be rolling out events based on your feedback during the “Your Future, Your Solutions” 100 Roundtables Initiative in a series called How to Make Change. We’ll update the schedule with emails and on our website with specifics on timing of the events below and for added events here at the White House, and around the country.

Kickoff Conference Call with President Obama and Administration Officials
Obama Administration Officials conference call de-briefing the President’s commitment to youth issues and initiatives. President Obama will also hop-on the call at 12 noon on Friday, July 1, 2011. Please note that capacity has been reached by those who RSVP’d, but we will provide a read-out after this call.

Civic Engagement: Youth Incarceration, Environment, and LGBT Issues
Not something we see in the mainstream media, but check out President Obama hearing real-life examples from young Americans on how specific policies he supported such as second chance programs, social work, health and human services, the environment, energy independence, national security, Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell, and LGBT issues have made an impact in the lives of young Americans.

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Join us for the opening session: “How to Make Change: Civic Engagement” at 4:30 p.m. EDT, July 5, 2011 on Whitehouse.gov/Live.

Tackling Poverty
Poverty is a global challenge that the President is committed to tackling both here and abroad. Lots of movement has been made in this arena, but much more is left to be done. What have young Americans done substantively to stop the cycle of poverty in our communities? Xavier Jennings shares some insight here:

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Join us for “How to Make Change: Poverty and International Aid”, an interactive chat with U.S. Agency for International Development Administrator Raj Shah at 1:30 p.m. EDT on July 7, 2011, on Whitehouse.gov/Live. submit your questions in advance by clicking here.

E-Book Launch
As we promised during the “Your Future, Your Solutions: 100 Youth Strategies for Winning the Future” Roundtables Initiative, we will be launching an E-book with results and outcomes from the roundtables you held and ways to connect with each other around the country. Join us for “How to Make Change: E-Book Launch” in July - date and time is forthcoming.

College Affordability, Student Financial Aid, and Pell Grants
President Obama and Young Americans have achieved incredible successes on issues related to college affordability. From raising the Pell Grant to $5500 and increasing the American Opportunity Tax Credit to $2500 (and fighting hard to keep both), investments in education for our generation are a priority. Listen to what young advocates, Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett, and President Obama himself had to say about college affordability, financial aid, and Pell:

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Join us for the “How to Make Change: Pell Grants and Financial Aid” webchat in August 2011.

Educational Awards, Low Income Housing, and Grants
What have young folks been doing to alleviate a shortage in affordable housing? How about building 13 homes in 5 years. Not too shabby. Youth Advocate Layla Wright joins us to discuss her Youth Build project in Tennessee, helping communities in Appalachia.

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We will have at least three more events in August, including “How to Make Change: Affordable Housing and Impact on Young Americans,” “How to Make Change: Energy and Environment,” and “Closing Session: How We Did It: Success Stories and Scalable Models of Success” More events and opportunities to connect will be added throughout the summer!