San Francisco Bay Area, CA – June 2025 – Close the Gap Foundation is proud to announce the launch of the inaugural Empower YOUth Self-Led Social Impact Program, a four-milestone initiative empowering high school students to lead and execute meaningful projects in their communities. Building on the success of Close the Gap’s flagship Social Impact Fellowship, this new program is designed to serve a broader audience by removing barriers such as competitive applications, GPA minimums, and geographic constraints.

At Close the Gap, we believe that anyone and everyone can create social impact, but not everyone has the access or resources to do so. Empower YOUth is a unique opportunity that provides all motivated individuals with toolkits of success while inviting them to learn critical leadership, problem solving, and organizational skills along the way.
- Program Director and Lead Architect, Joyce Talavera

A Self-Paced Approach to Leadership and Impact

• Flexible & Fully Remote: The self-paced 4 milestone structure allows students to move at their own speed with 4 personally tailored checkpoints. You set the timeline, we set the accountability measures. 

• Inclusivity at Its Core: Unlike traditional programs, Empower YOUth is open to anyone who wants to create change. Though the projects are tailored for high school students, we want to encourage anyone who is interested in social impact to take on this challenge.

• Hands-On Community Projects: Participants can select from a range of social impact projects, following the top UN’s Sustainability and Development Goals. From extroverted projects like arranging full-on events, to single-player modes that push our Scholars’ comfort zones, we have a project made for all interests. 

Building on Momentum

Following a successful pilot – Empower YOUth emerges from Close the Gap’s 7+ years of experience running multiple programs which have supported hundreds of first-generation, low-income high school students. Many alumni of our programs have gone on to 4-year universities like Sonoma State University, UC Berkeley, and Stanford, crediting their growth in leadership and confidence to the mentorship and project-based learning offered by Close the Gap’s programs. With Empower YOUth, we’re extending this formula of success to everyone who wants to make an impact.