Programs

To be Asian in America is a complicated and nuanced experience to say the least. That is why at CYI, we ground our work in the history of Asian American activism and organizing and operate in anti-racist frameworks that challenge our students’ concepts of social justice. In doing so, we are working to build a legacy of young leaders who with their awareness of community issues and identity through our project initiatives, can leave CYI confident to take on solving the issues of our times. CYI strives to foster the developmental growth of New York City youth socially and emotionally. In order to fulfill its mission, CYI has developed 3 main programs that each align with one of CYI’s core values: Exploration, Education, and Empowerment

While all our programs encompass all our core values in some aspect, each program epitomizes one core value slightly more.

Summer Leadership Institute

Summer Leadership Institute (SLI) is CYI’s flagship program that personifies exploration. SLI is a six to eight week leadership program led by late-high school and college-aged facilitators who design and lead weekly workshops to engage, educate and empower high school youth using exploratory activities and discussions. Leaders set the tone of SLI by creating a safe space for a cohort of 20-30 high school youth, many of whom are just entering into the fight for racial justice. They then lead the cohort to explore topics such as identity, community and consciousness building, culminating in a tight-knit youth led group inspired to take action.

Chinatown Literacy Project

Chinatown Literacy Project (CLP) boldly embodies empowerment; empowerment felt by our youth who run the entire operation and empowerment felt by our ESL learners who through learning a new language, can advocate further for themselves. Founded and led by high school students, the Chinatown Literacy Project has educated and empowered both youth and adult learners in the Asian and Pacific Islander (API) community by making English instruction accessible for New Yorkers regardless of economic status. Under the guidance of a community advisor, high school coordinators manage the day-to-day operations, including hiring teachers, recruiting language partners, finding adult learners, and leading workshops. CLP is near and dear to us as it is our program that works to strengthen and bridge understanding across generations.

Chinatown Beautification Day + Youth Conference

The crux of Chinatown Beautification Day (CBD) is education. Founded in 2003, CBD has been a large event organized in response to government inaction to support Chinatown after 9/11. The 2 day event begins with panels and workshops to introduce Asian American youth to the tools and language to address the racial inequities that they see and experience in their daily lives. The second day is all about going out in the streets, cleaning up, and interacting with the greater Chinatown community. In 2020, youth coordinators, in conjunction with the SLI youth, shifted CBD to be completely remote to organize a large scale event of 100+ high school students (citywide), introducing our students to the possibilities of collective action.

Chinatown Community Builders

Coming soon!

At CYI, our youth tend to move orthogonally, moving up and down our ladder of engagement while simultaneously, participating across our programs. It is not uncommon that you will find a CYI student being both an advisor for SLI and a facilitator for CBD. It is our hope that through our programs, our youth will develop and build their political consciousness and leadership skills to reimagine a world where communities come first.