Youth Organizing
Organizing high school youth in San Francisco to take action in their communities.
Join us this Summer 2026!
We meet Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays at 3:30-6pm. We are currently accepting applications.
Youth MOJO
Youth MOJO (Movement of Justice and Organizing) develops the leadership of working-class Chinese and Asian American high school youth to engage in their communities through basebuilding, leadership development, and hands-on organizing with a focus on social issues such as housing, education, immigration, and workers’ rights. Participants develop critical thinking, leadership, communication, advocacy and organizing skills. Our program aims to empower youth to make a positive and lasting change in their community!
During the summer, youth have an opportunity to participate in the Youth MOJO Summer Program and the Youth Leadership Retreat, where members develop and strengthen their leadership, public speaking, communication, advocacy, and organizing skills.
Meeting Info
During Summer 2026, MOJO meets Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays at 3:30-6pm. Apply here!
During the school year, MOJO meets most Fridays.
Basebuilding
Youth develop skills to organize their peers to take collective action to advance social and economic justice. Youth have tabled in their schools, canvassed in their neighborhoods, and held exchanges with their peers about issues, including mental health, housing, healthcare, and worker’s rights.
Leadership Development
Youth develop critical thinking, public speaking, communication, and decision-making skills, with the support of their peers and trusted adult allies. Together, youth build collective capacity to organize their communities to improve the material conditions of youth and their families in San Francisco.
Additionally, every semester, members nominate Core Leaders who take on more leadership in MOJO to organize and develop their peers as leaders, facilitate workshops and lead committees, and are committed to growing themselves through the process.
“Before, I would just take a backseat, thinking “Someone else will probably do something about it.” By being a part of CPA, I’ve built up confidence in my leadership skills to actively take part in issues affecting the people around me. I now see myself as part of a movement.”
Campaigns & Wins
Over the last 15 years, Youth MOJO has led campaigns to win material changes in our communities.
In 2012-2013, Youth MOJO led a campaign to save St. Luke’s Hospital—the only hospital serving primarily low-income immigrant residents and residents of color in the poorest southeastern communities of the city—and expanded access to healthcare services through the passage of the SF Health Care Services Master Plan.
In 2017, youth leaders led a participatory action research project to better understand systemic, emotional and cultural barriers to students’ utilization of mental health services in San Francisco Unified School District. From this research, youth leaders launched the “Our Healing in our Hands” campaign. In 2019, advocacy led by our youth leaders secured $1.25 million for mental health funding in SFUSD to expand culturally relevant and youth-informed mental health services.
In 2024, youth leaders surveyed 565 of their peers and uncovered that housing is the top issue impacting young people and their families in San Francisco. In summer 2025, Youth MOJO launched a Housing Justice Campaign to demand stable, affordable housing for very low-income families, and strong tenant protections for renters.
