Youth Empowerment Radio

Next Gen Convos

This podcast was created by young people as a project of Youth MOVE Colorado, a youth-led organization. This is meant to serve as a fun, educational, and community-building resource for youth with lived experience. We will be having organic conversations about everything from making friends to advocating for change, and interviewing other changemakers along the way!

  1. 4d ago

    Season 3, Episode 9 - (Part 1) Adaptive Outdoor Recreation & Accessibility in Practice

    Host Carmen welcomes Kady Ostowick, executive director of Colorado Discover Ability (CDA) in Grand Junction, Colorado, a nonprofit providing adaptive outdoor recreation for people with disabilities. Katie shares how she pivoted from a for-profit tech career to leading CDA, and outlines CDA’s programs including winter skiing and snowboarding, a large Special Olympics skiing/snowboarding team, seasonal cycling on local paved trails, and summer adventures like paddleboarding, kayaking, horseback riding, and rafting partnerships. She explains adaptive equipment across sports, from sit skis, mono skis, and outriggers to recumbent and tandem trikes and supportive rafting seating, noting high costs and frequent need for creative solutions. The conversation also covers practical outdoor accessibility—signage, bathrooms, transportation, and equipment access—and emphasizes designing solutions with people who have lived experience, reinforcing that disability does not mean inability. 00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro 00:59 Katie’s Career Pivot 03:43 What CDA Does 07:11 Special Olympics Ski Team 09:21 Adaptive Ski Gear 14:46 Adaptive Cycling Basics 18:47 Cost and Logistics 19:35 Adaptive Rafting Safety 24:08 Outdoor Accessibility Beyond Ramps 30:30 Disability Is Not Inability 33:42 Access and Maintenance Wrap Up

    35 min

  2. May 20

    Season 3, Episode 8 - (Part 2): Luke Mickelson on Child Bedlessness & Taking Tiny Moments to Action

    Youth Empowerment Radio S3E8 (Part 2): Luke Mickelson on Child Bedlessness & Taking Tiny Moments to Action Host Carmen continues her conversation with Luke Mickelson, founder of Sleep in Heavenly Peace, about child bedlessness, its ripple effects on health and life outcomes, and why the issue is often invisible. Luke explains how local SHP chapters operate like a franchise model: sponsors donate about $300 per bed (including mattress, bedding, and delivery), volunteers build beds in an assembly-line process, and teams deliver and assemble beds in homes for children ages 3–17 who don’t already have a bed. They discuss demand outpacing supply, common circumstances behind requests (house fires, foster care, single parents, and grandparents taking in grandchildren), and Luke’s “Tiny Moments” framework—see it, feel it, act on it, repeat it, share it—to build a stronger desire to act and create community change. 00:00 Welcome Back and Setup 00:56 Why Beds Matter for Kids 01:17 Juvenile Detention Wake Up Call 02:44 Ripple Effects of Poor Sleep 03:25 How a Chapter Works 04:12 Sponsors and Build Days 05:54 Volunteer Experience Gold Nuggets 07:42 Applying and Prioritizing Need 09:33 Delivering Beds and Reactions 11:45 Ownership and Community Love 12:37 Small Moments Create Change 13:14 Why Bedlessness Is Invisible 15:04 How Big Is Bedlessness 16:19 Why No Bed Charities 17:49 Hardship Has No Labels 19:09 Top Reasons Families Apply 20:19 Grandparents Step In 22:31 Tiny Moments To Action 25:07 Practice Serving Daily 27:07 Get Involved And Connect 29:21 Closing Thanks And Impact

    30 min

  3. May 7

    Season 3, Episode 7 - (Part 1) From a Farm Kid to 400,000 Beds: Luke Mickelson’s Sleep in Heavenly Peace Origin Story

    From a Farm Kid to 400,000 Beds: Luke Mickelson’s Sleep in Heavenly Peace Origin Story | Youth Empowerment Radio S3E7 (Part 1) Host Carmen interviews Luke Mickelson, founder of Sleep in Heavenly Peace, a nonprofit that builds and delivers beds to children. Luke shares his background growing up in a small Idaho town, lessons about community service, and a personal period of doubt that shifted his view of success. As a church youth leader in 2012, he learned of children in his town sleeping on the floor, built a bunk bed with local boys, and later built another with his own kids, discovering widespread need through a Facebook post. Delivering a bed to six-year-old Haley—who had been sleeping on a pile of clothes—became a turning point, inspiring a commitment to end child bedlessness locally and beyond. He explains SHP’s chapter model, volunteer-driven growth, and expansion to 470+ chapters in four countries with over 400,000 beds built. 00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro 01:32 Luke’s Humble Roots 02:39 Small Town Community Values 03:51 Service Mindset and Life Lessons 06:09 Midlife Questions and Funk 08:02 Hearing About Kids Without Beds 09:37 Building the First Bunk Bed 11:11 Delivery Day and Community Impact 13:08 A Couch Moment Sparks More 14:41 Building Beds With His Kids 15:36 Now What to Do With It 15:59 Post Goes Viral 16:51 Haley’s Story 17:42 Inside an Empty Home 19:11 A Bed Changes Everything 20:35 Why Beds Mean Safety 24:21 From One Bed to Nonprofit 26:00 Mike Rowe Spotlight 27:09 How Chapters Scale Impact 29:14 Anyone Can Start One

    30 min

  4. Apr 23

    Season 3, Episode 6 - Part 2 Youth Leadership in Action: Building Connection and Systems Change with Youth MOVE Nevada

    Youth Leadership in Action: Building Connection and Systems Change with Youth MOVE Nevada Host Carmen continues her conversation with Brenna, youth leader of Youth MOVE Nevada, focusing on Nevada’s rural isolation, lack of community connection, and the importance of social connection for health and healing. Brenna describes chapter challenges such as reaching rural youth and increasing awareness that youth voices are welcome, and explains how virtual meetings support statewide inclusion. She outlines multiple engagement pathways for youth—decision-making in meetings, polls and chat participation, podcast and social media contributions, toolkits, contests, and youth panels—within a peer-led model that builds leadership. Brenna shares experiences bringing youth voice into systems-level meetings, noting receptivity but sometimes limited dialogue, and highlights the Youth Voice at Agency Level assessment/training, work with UNR on system-of-care data collection and youth focus groups, and her role with a Nevada Medicaid behavioral health transformation workgroup shaping care coordination improvements. She is excited about continued chapter growth and directs listeners to YouthMoveNV and YouthMoveNV@nevadapep.org. 00:00 Welcome Back Part Two 00:34 Nevada Rural Isolation 01:22 Why Connection Matters 04:51 Reaching Rural Youth 06:46 Everyday Youth Engagement 12:05 Youth Led Meetings 13:27 Youth Voice In Systems 16:22 YVAL And UNR Partnership 21:26 Medicaid Summit Impact 26:08 Future Growth And Contact 28:13 Final Thanks And Wrap

    29 min

  5. Apr 15

    Season 3, Episode 5 - Part 1 with Youth Move Nevada’s Brenna on Youth Advocacy, Mental Health Challenges, and Youth Voice

    Youth Move Nevada’s Brenna on Youth Advocacy, Mental Health Challenges, and System-Level Youth Voice Host Carmen interviews Brenna, team facilitator and youth leader with Youth Move Nevada, about her path from working at Nevada PEP to youth advocacy, including how learning about disabilities led her to seek an ADHD evaluation and feel empowered by diagnosis and self-advocacy. Brenna explains Youth Move Nevada’s origins as a youth-voice program under Nevada PEP, its autonomy, and its goals: building youth self-advocacy skills, empowering youth-led change, and reducing stigma around mental health and disabilities for ages 14–24 statewide. They discuss Nevada’s mental health challenges, including ranking 51st, provider shortages, limited community-based services that can force out-of-state treatment, rural/frontier access barriers, siloed systems, and gaps in awareness, alongside a reported 2% state suicide-rate reduction. Brenna describes youth engagement methods (virtual meetings, polls, podcasts, social media, contests, panels) and system advocacy using the Youth Voice at Agency Level tool, work with UNR on needs assessments, and Medicaid workgroups shaping care coordination. 00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro 01:04 Brenna Story and Lived Experience 04:23 ADHD Diagnosis and Empowerment 09:04 Youth Move Nevada Origins 12:05 Host Org and Autonomy 19:45 Who Can Join Youth Move 21:52 Mission and Core Goals 24:13 Nevada Mental Health Crisis 27:19 Rural Access and Out of State Care 33:31 Siloed Systems and Awareness Gaps 35:28 National Youth Mental Health Context 37:31 Why Nevada Ranks Last 38:23 Rural Frontier Reality 41:17 Isolation and Loneliness 45:15 Reaching Rural Youth 47:41 Everyday Youth Engagement 54:46 Youth Voice in Systems 57:33 YVAL and UNR Partnership 01:03:22 Medicaid Summit Impact 01:08:39 Chapter Growth and Contact

    31 min

  6. Mar 30

    Season 3, Episode 4 - Real Talk Mental Health Support Group at Oaktree Youth Resources

    Youth Empowerment Radio S3E4: Real Talk Mental Health Support Group at Oaktree Youth Resources In Season 3, Episode 4 of Youth Empowerment Radio, interns Brooke and Berkeley from Oaktree Youth Resources describe Real Talk, a weekly mental health support group held every Tuesday from 4–5 PM. They explain that the group aims to provide a safe, supportive, consistent space where youth can share successes and challenges, seek advice, or simply connect without having to talk. The episode covers topics and activities used in meetings—such as trust, boundaries, sobriety, group-building games, and planned crafts—plus engagement strategies like hands-on activities, food, easy opening questions, and potential pro-social events. They discuss how supportive peer communities encourage accountability and healthier choices, barriers like not knowing where to find support and lack of trust, ways to create inclusive spaces through group norms and consent to share, and long-term benefits such as reduced isolation, increased confidence, goal achievement, and improved wellbeing. 00:00 Welcome and Introductions 00:45 What Real Talk Is 01:23 Meeting Activities and Topics 01:59 Keeping Youth Engaged 03:09 How the Group Is Going 03:54 Peer Support and Accountability 05:06 Barriers to Seeking Help 06:44 Creating Inclusive Safe Spaces 07:51 Long Term Mental Health Benefits 09:08 Thanks and Weekly Invite So many mental health struggles grow stronger in isolation. Having a space—or even just one person—to turn to—can make all the difference in breaking that cycle. Thank you to Brooke and Burkley at Oak Tree Resources for creating that space. Join Real Talk every Tuesday from 4:00–5:00 PM. You don’t have to go through it alone.

    10 min

  7. Mar 19

    Season 3, Episode 3 - Olivia of Youth MOVE Pinellas on Youth-Led Mental Health Advocacy

    Youth Empowerment Radio S3E3: Olivia of Youth MOVE Pinellas on Youth-Led Mental Health Advocacy In episode three of season three of Youth Empowerment Radio, host Carmen speaks with Olivia, president of Youth MOVE Pinellas in Pinellas County, Florida, a youth-led chapter under Youth MOVE National supported by NAMI. Olivia shares how she joined in September 2024, why youth advocacy around mental health and education matters, and how the chapter creates safe, stigma-reducing spaces through an “authentic check-in” at meetings and events. She highlights three 2025 events: Healing Through Comics, a free four-week workshop with artist Jeff Morris; Youth Explosion’s Coping Skills Corner for third to fifth graders with over 200 participants; and Waves of Resilience, a beach cleanup that also distributed hurricane preparedness kits after two hurricanes, drawing about 50 people. They discuss youth engagement via tabling, partnerships, and social media, challenges like transportation and insufficient marketing, and Olivia’s leadership growth in communication, empathy, and time management. 00:00 Welcome and Episode Preview 00:53 Meet Olivia and Her Why 03:33 How Youth Move Works 04:27 Creating Safe Spaces 06:23 Host Organization and Local Roots 07:39 Healing Through Comics 12:18 Youth Explosion Coping Skills 14:31 Waves of Resilience Cleanup 16:52 Growing the Chapter and Outreach 25:31 Challenges Transportation and Marketing 30:04 What Youth Led Looks Like 33:01 Future Plans and Where to Find Them 34:38 Closing Thanks

    35 min

  8. Mar 13

    Season 3, Episode 2- Making Data Accessible with Colorado Equity Compass

    Youth Empowerment Radio S3E2: Making Data Accessible with Colorado Equity Compass In Season 3, Episode 2 of Youth Empowerment Radio, host Carmen Sosso and co-host Claud Figaro talk with Alina and Lauren from Colorado Equity Compass about using data to support equity and social justice in Colorado. They introduce the Colorado Equity Compass as a free, public resource that combines accessible data tools, community stories, trainings, and an advocacy module to help people understand local conditions and make data-informed decisions. The conversation highlights the Equity Data Navigator, which organizes localized metrics using social determinants of health, and discusses practical uses such as needs assessments, program planning, grant writing, and policy advocacy. They also address data limitations, including historical exclusion of groups like unhoused youth, and emphasize the importance of lived experience and storytelling alongside quantitative data. 00:00 Welcome and Episode Preview 00:48 Meet Alina and Lauren 03:58 What Is Colorado Equity Compass 06:07 Real World Use Case 09:28 Equity Data Navigator Explained 15:37 Data for Grants and Policy 20:04 Social Determinants of Health 24:52 What Makes CEC Unique 26:30 Community Stories and Storytelling 35:42 Social Justice and Why It Matters 40:07 Data as Social Justice Lens 42:10 Micro Level Justice 43:16 Limits of Data 46:08 Equality vs Equity 47:49 Justice in Practice 52:30 Health Equity Gaps 58:18 Rural Food Access 01:03:38 Education Shapes Outcomes 01:09:03 How to Get Involved 01:11:12 Staying Connected 01:13:14 Final Reflections

    1h 15m
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About

This podcast was created by young people as a project of Youth MOVE Colorado, a youth-led organization. This is meant to serve as a fun, educational, and community-building resource for youth with lived experience. We will be having organic conversations about everything from making friends to advocating for change, and interviewing other changemakers along the way!

Information

  • Creator
    Next Gen Convos
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    63
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Youth Empowerment Radio
  • Show Website
    Youth Empowerment Radio