Mission

To broaden the scope of youth leadership in Columbus, Georgia through volunteerism, service and initiatives that are directed towards allowing youth input into policy issues, identifying youth issues, and participating in the development of positive solutions.

History

The Columbus, GA YAC started in 1999 with its first 84 youth members. Since inception, almost 1,700 students have graduated from our program. This program is sponsored by the Columbus Consolidated Government and the Muscogee County School District. When COVID hit in 2020, we put our program on PAUSE, and we are now gearing up to reinvigorate our Youth Council. Over the years, this council has done some amazing things, from holding public meetings to getting input on what our community was missing for our youth and what we needed to better engage our youth. Based on the public’s input, our YAC lobbied the City Council to support the construction of a Skateboard Park at a cost of over $900K. This park was constructed with our YAC at the table meeting with contractors every step of the way. This skateboard park was named in honor of the 2nd President of the YAC who passed away, ‘The Jonathan Hatcher Skateboard Park’ because of his involvement in making this project come to fruition.

They also lobbied the Muscogee County School System for a consistent dress code policy as each school had something different. As a result, changes were made. They also worked hand in hand with the MCSD Nutrition Manager to test sample meals to determine what students would like and not like for their daily lunch. This proved to be fruitful for students going forward to minimize waste and cost. These are just a few of the many significant projects they have undertaken as well as having their own Talk Show, bringing in subject matter experts depending on the topic. Their Talk Show is aired on the City’s Cable Network Channel, CCG-TV.

We look forward to continuing the great work that begin in 1999 and look forward to a very engaged Youth Advisory Council each year.