Antelope Valley Youth Advisory Committee

The Antelope Valley Youth Advisory Committee (YAC) is a youth-led initiative that empowers BIPOC youth to engage directly with law enforcement, advocate for systemic change, and demand greater accountability in the justice system. Established in response to a Settlement Agreement with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, the YAC creates a structured platform where young people can voice concerns, educate peers on policing practices, and push for policies that prioritize youth development over punitive measures. By ensuring that youth—especially young women and girls of color—have a seat at the table, YAC challenges the over-criminalization of marginalized communities and advocates for a more just and equitable system.

Through policy discussions, public forums, and community-driven research, the YAC equips justice-impacted youth with the skills to analyze policies, organize for reform, and shift narratives surrounding youth in the
justice system. By centering youth voices and fostering leadership, YAC advances a vision for a transformed system—one that upholds compassion, fairness, and dignity while actively working to dismantle punitive structures that harm young people of color.

Future Leaders Brunch

Future Leaders Brunch is an annual event that opens up opportunities for BIPOC youth by emphasizing support for Black and Brown Communities. Coordinators have chosen Black History Month for this event because of its cultural significance. Celebrating past achievements, strategizing for the future, and collectively uniting the community, the City of Lancaster and Future Leaders California connect young BIPOC students with influential minority leaders, businesspersons, and government officials to promote unity and prosperity while opening the doors for mentorship and networking. The event consists of panel discussions, networking, and celebrating organizations that impact the community positively, exceptional youth, and young adults. The goal of the Brunch is to highlight the achievements of BIPOC leaders in the Antelope Valley and allow high school students to learn about career fields relating to medicine, education, law and government, engineering, aerospace, and community development.

Minor Discussion

Minor Discussion is a summit that is hosted annually by Future Leaders California, the City of Lancaster, and Antelope Valley Union High School District. The event is in partnership with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) and the City of Palmdale. Minor Discussion establishes a sounding board for local youth in the Antelope Valley and law enforcement to communicate with one another in a positive way. The summit serves as a conference to educate and address the concerns of our youth on the intricacies of law enforcement. The overall goal of Minor Discussion is to bridge the gap between law enforcement and the youth in the community while also increasing awareness of a day in the life of a deputy. Minor Discussion was created after the annual Justice Sunday play where the youth discussed police brutality and deputies who were in the crowd walked out. This caused us to question what was missing in our community. After discussion and communication with each other, it was decided that we wanted to build a program that would work towards bridging the gap between the youth in the community and law enforcement. This allowed the Minor Discussion summit to launch in 2021. The summit includes a panel discussion between our local law enforcement and the youth, guest speakers, and workshops. Students from all over the Antelope Valley attend Minor Discussion therefore the students are broken into two groups where one group participates in the panel discussion and the other group participates in three 30 minute workshops. The panel consists of 7 students who ask the deputies hand picked questions that the youth participating in the summit have. Some of the questions are, how does your job affect your personal life, do you keep them separate or do you integrate them?, what were some of the difficulties and hardships of being a deputy?, and what’s the hardest decision you’ve had to make as a deputy? The youth asking the deputies these questions allows them to engage in critical conversations to promote positive relationships between youth and law enforcement. There are three educational workshops that the youth participate in during the summit which are the effects of drug, alcohol, and tobacco, human trafficking, and road to the bench where they get to have a one on one conversation with local judges.

Youth4Justice

Youth 4 Justice (Y4J), previously known as Pathways to Law Enforcement, is an annual program meant to encourage youth and young adults to learn from those who came before them and pursue their dreams of a career in the justice system. At Future Leaders California, we originally created Y4J as an extension of Teen Talk. With the ongoing tension between younger adults and law enforcement at the time, it felt appropriate to create a greater closeup, intimate experience for the students to interact with law enforcement officers one-on-one and in smaller group sessions. Following deeper thought and observation, we realized it was just as significant to bridge the gap between students and the justice system as a whole. There isn’t enough being done to properly educate youth on the complexity of the justice system, specifically the processes and protocols followed that generate the decisions that are made on a daily basis. Unfortunately, the crime rate in Lancaster is only rising, and each day the suspects become younger, so this program serves as an intimidating, but realistic insight as to what they may face if they do not act accordingly. The goal is to keep our students safe and off the streets, and to encourage them to behave appropriately and within the laws. Youth 4 Justice is generally a two-day event in which students from different high schools have the opportunity to converge and meet with current employees in the justice system. Each day is filled with timed breakout sessions for the students to learn more about and interact with different departments of the justice system. A rotation is set to keep the students alert and interactive, keep their attention and focus on high. Some of our rotational breakout sessions have included Question & Answer sessions with current judges and Sheriff’s deputies, icebreakers with Sheriff ‘s deputies and Public Safety Officers, interactive act-out scenarios, a “Don’t Shoot” Simulator provided and managed by the Sheriff’s station, and more. For the students, we have also had presentations from Kemba Smith, I Fear For My Life and Dr. Yusef, and Mothers Against Drunk Driving. With each of these sessions, we hope they serve as a boost for the students for their dream career in the justice system and as a chance to get to know the people currently serving to protect them and their rights. Our priority is always to find ways to benefit the students and give back to the community by providing a shoulder for our younger generation to stand on and follow, in hopes that our future leaders will one day give back as well.