At the Table, an initiative of the Innovation Center for Community and Youth Development, works to build a national movement for youth participation in governance and decisionmaking. The website is an online clearinghouse that brings together youth involvement advocates and practitioners by providing opportunities to share information and collaborate. Resources on the site include: a calendar of events and news from the youth participation field; online discussion boards; user-posted handouts and links; and an online workroom for youth voice advocates hosted as part of the Forum for Youth Investment’s Youth Today, Youth Tomorrow site.

Children Now utilizes research and mass communications to make the well-being of children a top priority across the country. Its program areas focus on: Children & The Media, California Focus, Talking With Kids, Working Families, and Health. The website makes available an extensive collection of information and resources, including publications, poll results, policy papers, press material, action updates on federal and state legislation, an online newsletter, and over 300 links to other websites devoted to children's issues.

Community Celebration of Place (CCP) strengthens community spirit and pride by bringing together children and elders through music, performance, art, and oral history. The website gives a detailed, how-to guide to CCP’s signature program, Elders’ Wisdom, Children’s Song, in which students interview elders, then create and perform songs honoring their lives at a community-wide celebration. Also online are all 48 verses of the song, “I love the Mississippi River,” written by CCP Director Larry Long and children from river communities as part of the River Celebration program.

Through professional development and resources delivered online and onsite by a nationwide staff of educators, Co-nect works with schools and districts to integrate technology into teaching and learning, enhance the quality of student work, and integrate real-world projects into a standards-based curriculum. Co-nect’s website hosts descriptions of programs and projects (with links to schools) and program evaluation and results (including school success stories and test scores). Among its useful tools are descriptions of benchmarks and rubrics, lists of suggested reading, grant writing support, position papers, and links to curriculum and other resources.

Facing History and Ourselves is a national educational and teacher training organization whose mission is to engage students of diverse backgrounds in an examination of racism, prejudice, and anti-semitism to promote a more humane and informed citizenry. In response to September 11, the organization has devoted a special section of its website to lesson plans and suggested readings, curriculum ideas from Facing History teachers around the globe, and links to other useful resources.

Families and Work Institute (FWI) is a non-profit research center that fosters supportive connections among workplaces, families, and communities. The FWI website provides information on research projects and conferences, order forms for publications, and sign-ups for speaking presentations. Online Community Mobilizing forums give detailed advice on initiating community action projects, including tips on assessing needs, financing, governance, public engagement, and evaluation. The Fatherhood Project provides an array of resources that support men’s involvement in child-rearing.

The Family Involvement Network of Educators (FINE) is a member organization of 800 higher education faculty, trainers, and parent groups seeking to strengthen family involvement in schools. The FINE website offers an array of resources, such as monthly newsletters, bibliographies of current family involvement literature, and a variety of online research briefs, reports, and papers on family-school-community issues. Of particular interest are the Teaching Cases, detailed and balanced narratives of people grappling for answers to real-life problems in home-school relations, and Member Insights, thoughtful opinions and ideas on provocative subjects. The FINE website is embedded in the larger site of its sponsor, the Harvard Family Research Project , which offers its own extensive set of research, tools, publications, and resources.

The Forum for Youth Investment (the Forum) is dedicated to increasing the quality and quantity of youth investment and youth involvement by promoting a “big picture” approach to planning, research, advocacy, and policy development among the organizations that invest in children, youth, and families. To do this, the Forum is committed to building connections, increasing capacity, and tackling persistent challenges across the allied youth fields. The website contains detailed organizational and program descriptions, as well as a resource section of papers, articles, editorials, speeches, presentations, and other tools created by Forum staff and consultants.

A youth-founded nonprofit, the Freechild Project aims to become a training ground, think tank, resource agency, and advocacy group for young people seeking to play a larger role in their schools and communities. The website hosts an excellent directory of online resources—including organizations, individuals, research, and publications—in focus areas such as student-led education reform, youth rights, community involvement, juvenile justice, and youth media. Its library offers downloadable bibliographies, plus tips on fundraising, team building, and meaningfully involving students in school decisionmaking.

Established in 2000, the Funders’ Collaborative on Youth Organizing (FCYO) is a collective of national, regional, and local foundations and youth organizing practitioners dedicated to advancing youth organizing as a strategy for youth development and social change. In addition to program descriptions and information, the website’s downloadable resources include a request-for-proposal, a newsletter, and two reports: Strategies for Building Power and Youth Leadership and Youth Organizing: Notes from the Field. The list of grantees provides links to grassroots youth organizing groups all over the country.

A journal of the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, The Future of Children promotes effective policies and programs for children by providing policymakers, service providers, and the media with the best available research. The website posts current and past issues of the journal, accompanied by executive summaries, author bios, and Issues and Idea Guides. Other online resources provide fast facts of important child well-being statistics, an index of all journal figures and tables, a free email newsletter, and links to Packard Foundation grantees in the fields of child research, policy, and advocacy. Interactive tools include “My Journal Library,” which allows visitors to create their own collection of specific journal articles, and a conversations section where users can submit questions to and participate in online discussions with journal authors and editors.

A New York-based nonprofit, Global Kids (GK) helps prepare urban youth as global citizens and community leaders, offering professional development for teachers, in-class academic workshops, and training for youth in leadership development, global awareness, conflict resolution, school change, diversity, civic participation, and more. In addition to program information, the website offers profiles of GK student leaders, a monthly newsletter, a calendar of events, and links to other resources.

In partnership with TakingITGlobal, the Global Youth Action Network is a growing collaboration among youth organizations in almost 200 countries, providing resources and recognition to inspire, inform, and involve a generation in creating a better world. Online databases searchable by topic or geographic region catalogue thousands of articles, interviews, organizations, resources, events, and opportunities. The site also posts information for project ideas, funding possibilities, and material on the annual Global Youth Service Day. Members can join discussions with real-time translations available in seven languages. And don’t miss the Global Gallery, which accepts online submissions of art and writing and exhibits the work of youth from all over the world.

A project of Action without Borders, Idealist.org aims to build a world where all people can live free and dignified lives in a healthy environment. The site serves as a clearinghouse for information, job openings, volunteer opportunities, internships, events, and resources posted by nonprofits in 153 countries. A special Kids and Teen section offers information, resources, and extensive links regarding volunteer opportunities, starting and funding projects, and forums for discussing personal issues. Particularly impressive is the directory (with links) of organizations started by youth.

iEARN, the International Education and Resource Network, is a nonprofit that helps students worldwide work together via the Internet and other technologies on projects that enhance learning and benefit society. The iEARN network includes over 4,000 schools in nearly 100 countries, reaching approximately 400,000 students annually. Though much of the website is dedicated to iEARN participants, non-members have access to a wealth of project ideas—in language and creative arts, social studies, and math/science/the environment, among others. Also available to general users are teacher guides to international collaboration on the Internet and “Connecting Cultures” (a post-September 11 resource). The site displays extensive collections of students’ work, including anthologies of essays and poetry, websites, art exhibits, reports to government officials, and more.

Millennial Politics.com is dedicated to educating and motivating people about youth activism and the politics of the Millennial Generation (Americans 25 and younger). The site provides links to other youth activist groups and resources, hosts active discussion boards for young people, and distributes a weekly newsletter. “Team Millennial” is a group of 200 young people working together to write a book about the activism of the generation and the issues discussed at the site.

A program of the Montana Historical Society and the American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress, the Montana Heritage Project encourages community-centered teaching—where youth study the present and past of their own place and thereby foster an education-centered community. The website hosts a range of useful resources, including directories of completed projects and participating schools (with detailed contact info, including email addresses), plus a description of the ALERT learning process (Ask, Listen, Explore, Reflect, and Transform). Downloadable sample documents offer concrete advice on oral history interviews and release forms, field work and archiving, and tools for reflection. Publications contain abundant examples of student work and educators’ writings about community-centered teaching.

Sponsored by the Academy for Educational Development, the National Service-Learning Partnership serves as a hub for more than 1,200 individuals and organizations committed to enhancing the visibility and quality of service-learning in schools and communities across the country. Available on the website are an electronic newsletter, policy briefs, advocacy skill-building workshops, and a calendar of conferences and events. A monthly email service provides legislative news and advocacy information to help service-learning supporters track relevant state and federal legislation.

An international nonprofit based in the U.K., Peace Child International empowers young people to inform themselves and take action to change the world. It has grown since its founding in 1982 to include over 500 youth groups in 120 countries, with consultative status at the United Nations. Its signature program, Be the Change!, helps young people worldwide plan, propose, and complete projects in areas like environmental conservation, sustainable development, human rights, education, and health. The website offers opportunities for online discussions, free newsletters, and order forms for reports and publications.

The Peace Corps has launched a new web-based initiative to give educators and students the tools and resources to plan, develop, create, perform, and evaluate a service-learning project. Online features include project ideas, lesson plans, guides to standards, links to other service-learning sites, and stories and tips from returned Peace Corps volunteers. The site is part of a larger website called World Wise Schools (www.peacecorps.gov/wws/), an inquiry-based education program that connects classrooms to current Peace Corps volunteers and offers lesson plans and materials about other countries and cultures—including maps, statistics, videos, stories, letters, and other primary sources.

Recognizing Youth As Resources (RYAR) was established in early 2000 as a program division of the Children’s Fund, a nonprofit that supports grassroots children’s initiatives in the U.S. and abroad. The RYAR Grants Program gives youth teams (grades 8-12) an opportunity to work together to develop competitive proposals for projects that increase understanding between youth and their community. (Initial funding for the grants program was established through pledges in support of a 3,200-mile bicycle trip from Los Angeles to Boston). The website provides detailed guidelines for writing proposals, as well as links to other resources for developing positive and healthy environments for youth.

River of Words is a K-12 environmental art and poetry program created to promote watershed awareness, literacy, and the arts. Through its annual youth art and poetry contest and its educator's tools, River of Words helps communities explore their own natural and cultural history. The website posts details about the art and poetry contest, plus winning entries from the past six years. Also online are tools for teachers, resources about watersheds, and extensive links to sites in the following categories: science and nature, poetry and literature, education, and art.

The Smaller Learning Communities Program is a $142 million, competitive federal grant program that helps large high schools create smaller, more personalized learning communities. Its website features program information, lists of grantees and their accomplishments, FAQs, application packages, and examples of successful proposals. The site also posts an extensive collection of small schools resources, research, and links.

Based in Washington, DC, SpeakOut.com is a non-partisan activism website and online opinion research company. Launched in February 2000, SpeakOut.com's primary mission is to enhance the democratic process by enabling citizens to have a direct impact on the decisions that affect their lives. The site offers users a wide variety of news and information tailored to their interests, plus activism tools to help reach an array of public officials, candidates, business and news executives.

Speak Up is a national, nonprofit literary journal published annually in hard copy that provides a creative voice for teenagers. Speak Up's Local and Online Teen Advisory Boards work with the editors to select stories, essays, poems, plays, artwork, and photography for publication and to format and layout each issue. The website accepts online submissions, lists events, and links to online creative writing classes and other journals for young people.

A project of AlterNet.org—the independent news and syndication service—and the Independent Media Institute, WireTap is an independent information source by and for socially conscious youth. It aims to challenge stereotypes, inspire creativity, foster dialogue, and give young people a voice in the media while providing a space for a new generation of writers, artists, and activists to network, organize, and mobilize. The online magazine provides a weekly index of investigative news articles, personal essays, and commentaries by and about young people (and welcomes submissions from site visitors). The Youth Network page provides a comprehensive listing of other youth media organizations and youth activist groups, with short descriptions and direct links to their websites. The online gallery showcases photography, paintings, graffiti, sketches, cartoons, and poetry of young artists.

Part of the nonprofit Canadian Centre for Social Justice, Young People’s Press (YPP) is a national news service giving youth a voice in public discourse. YPP teaches young people (aged 14 - 24) to write for publication and disseminates news articles, feature stories, and columns to more than 220 newspapers across Canada. (The Toronto Star has published roughly 300 YPP articles and columns in the past two years). The website posts youth writing of the highest quality on topics like poverty, racism, domestic abuse, mental and physical health, as well as works of poetry, fiction, photography, illustration, and video. The site also provides an excellent Writer’s Guide, detailed submission guidelines, message boards, and links to several YPP e-zines on topics like the environment, global issues, crime prevention, and disabilities.

An initiative of Save the Children, YouthNOISE empowers young people to improve their own and others’ lives through philanthropy, service, and policy. The website provides articles, “Top 10” lists, and factoids to inform young people about issues ranging from youth violence and teen pregnancy to homelessness and body image. Toolkits and other tips offer practical advice on how to work with Congress or get involved at home, and a database searchable by zip code details local volunteer opportunities. The site identifies grant, scholarship, and giving opportunities (YouthNOISE raised $10,000 for an Afghan girls’ education effort). Contests, quizzes, polls, and discussion boards, plus space for essays, poetry, and reflections, offer multiple forms for youth expression.

A Bay Area-based nonprofit, Youth Radio offers training in broadcasting and journalism for young people aged 14 to 17. Special programs serve incarcerated youth, take media education to the streets (via a mobile unit), and offer assistance and guidance for college-bound teens. The National Network, a series of partnerships with local stations and youth agencies, expands the program to half a dozen cities nationwide. The website features youth-produced radio programs (RealPlayer needed), a webzine written by and for teens (YouthInControl.org), and message boards and discussion groups. A special September 11 section includes coverage of the events, plus commentaries and interviews by young people.

Published ten times per year by the nonprofit American Youth Work Center, Youth Today is an independent, national newspaper for child and youth service professionals covering such issues as youth development, juvenile justice, violence and gang prevention, adolescent health, teen pregnancy, sex, and parenting. The website posts the full text of the current issue, plus an archive of previous articles. It also provides a news digest of media stories on children and youth, links to available grant opportunities, and a calendar of conferences, workshops, and other events.