Built upon the belief that youth bring significant and unique insight to peacebuilding, the U.S. Institute of Peace’s Youth Advisory Council (YAC) provides a mechanism through which USIP experts can benefit from youth perspectives and expertise. The YAC enables USIP staff to engage youth as partners, experts, and practitioners while elevating youth voices and experience to the international level. The YAC contributes to USIP’s vision for an inclusive approach to peacebuilding. The Youth Advisory Council meets regularly to bring together youth thought leaders and peacebuilding experts committed to the Institute’s mission and activities.

Youth perspectives are often overlooked during the development and implementation stages of peacebuilding programs. Through USIP’s Youth Advisory Council, youth leaders will provide regional and thematic expertise in the field of peacebuilding to inform and shape USIP programming and research.
Advisory Council members are a subset of USIP youth leaders. Each year, up to 15 Youth Advisory Council members are selected through a competitive application process. Youth leaders will be selected to serve one-year terms as Advisory Council members with the option to re-apply for the subsequent term.
Recent Youth Advisory Council Activities
- Four Lessons I Learned from the Dalai Lama (Olive Branch blog by YAC member Lorena Gomez)
- Five Years Later: UNSCR 2250 on Youth, Peace, and Security (USIP event on December 8, 2020, featuring YAC members)
- Afghanistan: Can This Be a Real Peace Process? (Olive Branch blog by YAC member Sharif Safi)