Over the last three years, BUILD awardees have been building community power and changing systems to create healthier neighborhoods. This story features the collaborative in Seattle, WA.
Click to read.
The Youth for Equitable Streets (YES) Fellowship positions young leaders in Seattle to conduct and publish peer-reviewed community research, provide recommendations, and advance initiatives that create more equitable built environments.
This project creates spaces for young people to advocate and organize for systemic change within public transportation. In partnership with the local hospital and transit agency in Seattle, young people’s engagement in improving public transportation systems is increasing transit access for communities of color in Seattle.
Over the past three years, the collaborative has:
- Recruited and supported the second and third YES Fellow cohorts; finalized a leadership curriculum; and provided public education by and for youth to access free rider benefits.
- Supported YES Fellows to conduct two studies with the Transportation Choices Coalition (TCC) on youth perspectives of public transportation access and utilization, as well as transit safety and equity.
- Included young people from 448 youth groups in 46 cities across the state of Washington in focus groups about transportation.
- Developed a set of youth-led policy goals to educate riders on safety and equity issues.
- Engaged all three Seattle transit agencies in adopting a bystander intervention and de-escalation training module, with pilot training planned for summer 2026.
Read about the BUILD Seattle initiative, and learn more.
“Access to transportation is essential to reach employment, educational opportunities, healthcare services, and affordable, nutritious groceries — all of which are basic human necessities.”
