Winter 2026

Our Fellows and Bridgers have been busy attending skill-building sessions, committee meetings, and joining together for volunteering. Read more below to check out some highlights of the season!

CONNECTING ACROSS DIFFERENCES

by Raphael Capangpangan

I joined YouthBridge-NY because I recognized the unique opportunities it could open for me as a student passionate about activism, community, and social change. Centered around the connectivity of New York City’s diversity, YouthBridge’s emphasis on social advocacy, representation, and youth leadership immediately drew me in. Coming from central New Jersey, I had realized there was a lack of programs that truly educated and empowered young people around me about organizing and advocacy, two areas I hope to pursue in my future.

While searching online for “social impact programs for high school sophomores,” YouthBridge was one of the first programs I came across. The more I learned about how YouthBridge encourages students to question assumptions and connect across differences, the more I felt it resonated with what I believe in. Its long-term commitment to fellows and focus on real dialogue and impact made it stand out as more than just another youth program I saw online.

Now, seven months into the program, I’ve formed meaningful friendships with talented, compassionate peers and have even had the chance to collaborate on social impact projects alongside them. As the only person in my cohort commuting from New Jersey, I’ve also gained independence, learning to navigate the MTA and NJ Transit on my own, adapting to a city I’ve only visited on weekends with family, and understanding the differences between school systems and student life in NYC and NJ.

I joined YouthBridge to learn, connect, and challenge myself, and it has given me all of that and more. Through its mentorship and opportunities, I’ve not only grown as an advocate, but as a more knowledgeable person who better understands the world and my impact within it.

LEARNING FROM EACH OTHER
by Eshal Masood

When I joined YouthBridge, I expected to learn about social issues, but I did not expect how much of that learning would come from the people around me. Through meetings and workshops, working together, sharing ideas, and building off one another’s thoughts became one of the most meaningful parts of the program. Hearing different perspectives and personal connections to topics pushed me to think more deeply and speak more confidently. YouthBridge feels less like a traditional program and more like a space for open conversation, where everyone contributes something valuable.

One of the most impactful experiences so far was learning about the history of policing in New York City through the National Urban League workshop. We discussed how policing developed over time, including its origins in controlling freed Black people after slavery, and learned about important figures and moments in history such as the Exonerated Five. These conversations added important context to present-day issues and challenged me to think beyond what I already knew.

Moving forward, I am looking forward to continuing committee work, building ideas with my peers, and growing through the honest and thoughtful discussions that make YouthBridge such a meaningful experience.

BECOMING A MORE THOUGHTFUL GLOBAL CITIZEN
by Rachel Uh

As a sophomore, I applied to YouthBridge because I wanted to learn from peers whose perspectives differed from my own while developing my leadership skills and becoming a more thoughtful global citizen. While YouthBridge has undoubtedly helped me accomplish those goals, what has been even more meaningful are the deeper shifts in perspective I have experienced along the way.

During my junior year as a Fellow, I built lasting friendships with peers from across the city and broadened my understanding of the world through learning within my healthcare disparities committee. Now, as a senior, I continue to feel both surprised and grateful for the ways this organization challenges and shapes me.

Most recently, at the News and Media Literacy workshop, I reconsidered how I interpret messaging in media and the press. As a group, we discussed the role of political and social commentary in network television. I have long loved sitcoms and other forms of televised media, but I had rarely paused to consider how social messaging operates within my favorite shows, especially when those messages aligned with my own beliefs.

Through conversations with fellow Bridgers and our presenter, Michelle Ciulla Lipkin, a globally recognized leader in media literacy education, I began to reflect more critically. Art can provoke emotion and inspire people to reconsider their beliefs. At the same time, I came to believe that political commentary is often most effective when introduced thoughtfully and with humility. When shows assign clear moral superiority to one set of beliefs while portraying opposing views as inherently villainous, it can deepen division rather than encourage understanding.

This workshop prompted me to move beyond passively consuming media and toward engaging with it more intentionally. Instead of assuming political commentary in television is inherently positive, I now approach it with greater curiosity and critical awareness. YouthBridge continues to teach me not what to think, but how to think more carefully and compassionately.