History

How it all Began – City of Tampa Mayor's Youth Corps

The concept of a "youth corps" was part of the 2003 Iorio for Mayor Campaign. Mayor Iorio believes that youth are not just future leaders but are leaders now and should be given an opportunity to share their concerns and ideas, as well as provide opportunities to serve their community. 

The Mayor's Youth Corps was formed following a review of all of the youth-related organizations with which the city had a relationship, including the Tampa/Hillsborough Youth Council, Police Explorers, Fire Rescue Explorers, and recreation center youth groups. The goal in structuring the Mayor's Youth Corps was to meet the Mayor's vision of an organization that provided opportunities for community service and a voice to the Mayor while remaining independent of the work other youth organizations were doing in partnership with the city.

After reviewing existing internal youth organizations, I also looked at youth councils/commissions, etc. associated with the mayors of other cities. I spoke to people who coordinate those groups in Boston, Nashville and Grand Rapids. They shared their experiences with me, which helped me formulate a plan for the Mayor's Youth Corps.

Mayor Dick Greco, who preceded Mayor Pam Iorio, had a somewhat similar youth organization - MYAG - Mayor's Youth Advisory Group. Because it was so similar to what Mayor Iorio envisioned, the decision was made to replace MYAG with the Mayor's Youth Corps.

The City of Tampa and JPMorgan Chase, our presenting sponsor, sponsor the Mayor’s Youth Corps. The City of Tampa provides $10,000 in funding annually and JPMorgan Chase provides an additional $5,000 annually. In addition, the Mayor’s Youth Corps received a $5,000 grant from What Kids Can Do, Inc. (WKCD) and included in another WKCD grant – Mentors That Matter.

We began recruiting members in November of 2003 and the first members of the Mayor's Youth Corps began their one-year term in January 2004.

Selection Process

Youth Corps members are recruited from all of the public and private high schools physically located within the Tampa city limits. This allows us to have broad representation while keeping the size of the group manageable. While there are 19 high schools that are within city limits, not all of them elect to participate. Seventeen high schools submitted students for consideration for the Mayor's Youth Corps Class of 2004. 

Applications will be available through these schools in mid-September. This allows schools to start and get settled before they are asked to assist in recruiting applicants. Applications are due in my office mid-October and must include two references. Because members serve one calendar year – January through December – we will only be accepting nominations and applications from students currently in ninth, 10th or 11th grade.

An advisory committee composed of current Mayor's Youth Corps members, as well as people from the local education and business community will review the applications. Interviews will be held in early December. We will select two individuals from each high school, as well as members at large for a total of 40 students. We are most interested in emerging leaders as opposed to those who currently hold leadership positions in their school or community.

Being a member of the Mayor's Youth Corps is a significant honor and a significant responsibility. We expect members to make Youth Corps a priority when schedule conflicts arise.

We meet at least once a month for a variety of activities including community service, open forums with the Mayor, Leadership 101 and other special projects. We have our own monthly television show on CTTV Channel 15, “From the Corps,” and Youth Corps members are involved in all aspects of the production of that show.

Other activities have included participating in the launch of the Mayor's civic pride campaign, “I Am Tampa - Doing My Part;” attending a grant writing workshop sponsored by the National Conference for Community and Justice; and attending a symposium in Orlando on Youth Participation sponsored by the National League of Cities.

During the past four years students have attended meetings on the national level, including the National Youth Summit, The National League of Cities Congress of Cities, The National League of Cities Congressional Cities Conference and the National League of Cities Your City’s Families Conference.

Community service projects include participating in Paint Your Heart Out and the annual Hillsborough River Clean-Up, as well as serving the hungry and homeless at Trinity Café. Students often suggest additional service activities, which we include if at all possible. 

To date, 160 teens have served as members of the Mayor’s Youth Corps and the program is refined each year to reflect teen and parent year-end evaluations and changing opportunities.