Powerful Voices

Powerful Voices is a Seattle, WA-based organization dedicated to empowering young girls and gender expansive youth of color through gender-specific social justice programs. Since 1995, they have developed comprehensive initiatives designed to equip youth ages 11-19 with the communal knowledge, platforms, and confidence needed to amplify their voices and advocate for change. Their programs are built on the principle that young people are experts in their own experiences and hold essential wisdom about navigating their worlds. Powerful Voices creates authentic partnerships with community members, organizations, and businesses to foster genuine collaboration in advancing gender justice. Their work encompasses multiple dimensions of youth empowerment, including arts-based activism, healing justice initiatives, and community-building experiences. The organization's fully femme, womxn, and non-binary staff of color brings lived experience and cultural competency to every program they develop. They facilitate opportunities for youth to engage in artivism, participate in youth-led conferences, and access mental health and healing resources specifically designed for BIPOC young people experiencing burnout and vicarious trauma. Powerful Voices operates from a framework that recognizes systemic barriers preventing young people from exercising their power in schools, homes, policies, and communities. By centering the voices and leadership of young girls and gender expansive youth of color, they work to reimagine what it means to be supported and led by young people. Their commitment to resource-sharing and partnership-building extends to volunteers and community allies seeking meaningful ways to support youth activism and gender justice work in the Seattle area.