36 YCT Members Attend Youth Leadership School Training

September 25, 2019

Last weekend, 36 members of YCT chapters across the state of Texas met in Dallas and attended the Leadership Institute’s Youth Leadership School (YLS). YCT was by far the largest organization represented at this training. We were the only organization to bring more than three students and our members made up 86% of the students in attendance. 

At YLS, young conservative activists spend their weekend learning the best ways to campaign and run their YCT chapters. Many famous conservatives have attended that training and it is considered to be a rite of passage by many inside the conservative movement. Famous alumni of the training include Grover Norquist and Vice President Mike Pence.

Encouraging high turnouts for the YLS is a key part of YCT’s new long term strategy that focuses on sustainability and professionalization. At this training, our current and future campus leaders learn everything that they need to know to run their YCT chapter using proven time-tested methods. By sending students to this training, students are learning three years of content in two days instead of struggling trying to learn by trial and error on their own.

Continued high attendance at YLS will be a focus for the foundation going forward as the training has something for everyone. This training helps both new and established chapters to reach their potential. We are putting a specific focus on sending both new freshman and the officer boards of provisional chapters to these trainings to ensure that YCT chapters have firm foundations and bright futures provided by utilizing this professional training.

Cristian Cavazos, from YCT at Texas State, said YLS was “an amazing experience that gave me political knowledge I feel will be beneficial to my future in a truly unique way.”

“YLS was an incredible eye opener and to say that their section on membership and recruitment will allow my YCT club to thrive would be an understatement” – Travis Fortune, YCT at Austin College
“Attending YLS is the most impactful way to make a real change in your community. It was an amazing opportunity to learn how to be a leader and reach out to my community. During the duration of YLS, we had interactive activities like making posters and producing press releases that stimulated thought and encouraged us to make the right decisions.” Ayana Edwards, TAMU-Commerce YCT 

“I learned leadership skills I never would have learned inside the classroom, and learned how to campaign effectively on a college campus.” – Alex Cochrane, YCT at Trinity University
“The YLS training was helpful to me in realizing that my goal of working in public service is achievable and I’m excited to see what the future holds. The guest speakers were especially helpful in illuminating that!”   – Juliana Peceli, YCT at the University of the Incarnate Word

I could not help but beam with pride as I walked into the training room on Saturday morning. When the Foundation made the decision to hire me in January, filling a YLS training with a majority YCT members had always been one of our goals. Little did we know that this would happen so quickly or in such a landslide.

Partnering with the Leadership Institute has been a blessing for the Foundation, allowing us to achieve far more than our current financial situations allows for by using their resources and training to strengthen our chapters and further our mission. If you are interested in helping YCT continue its growth and achieving its potential please consider donating $20 a month to support us.

Thank you,

Manfred Wendt
Executive Director