The Richmond Peace Education Center (RPEC) recently received a $25,000 grant from the Robins Foundation. During the coming year, this funding will enable RPEC to strengthen and expand its program for teens, Richmond Youth Peace Project (RYPP).

RYPP empowers youth to work for peace and community change. Through RYPP, RPEC trains and prepares teenagers to be youth peace leaders. These teen leaders teach nonviolent conflict resolution techniques to younger children and other teens, and have opportunities to make their voices heard, creatively, about critical community issues.

“RYPP is a place for me to express how I feel about real-world problems today. It’s where youth gather and actually take a stand against the problems that we face… RYPP provides us an opportunity to harness these feelings—not suppress them. Since joining RYPP, I have become more willing and determined to share my opinions and views with the world,” says Khadijah Baker, 16, a RYPP leader.

RPEC is currently accepting applications from teens interested in joining its RYPP leadership team.  

For more information, email [email protected] or visit RPEC.org.