CONNECT Youth consists of two youth-based groups: Girls Empowerment helps to provide safe spaces for young victims of abuse and enable them to transform their lives and gain confidence for the future. Transitioning into Men helps to shift and challenge young mens’ attitutes, beliefs and behaviour towards women and girls.

CONNECT Youth is dedicated to empowering young women with tools that encourage healing and enable them to become active community members and positive support systems for each other. It also creates a safe space for young men to develop new forms of healthy masculinity and hold each other accountable. CONNECT Youth consists of two youth-based groups: Girls Empowerment helps to provide safe spaces for young victims of abuse and enable them to transform their lives and gain confidence for the future. Transitioning into Men helps to shift and challenge young mens’ attitudes, beliefs and behavior towards women and girls.

Girls' Empowerment

Girls Empowerment works with young girls to help them develop effective ways to deal with the many challenges they face in their journey to womenhood by encouraging them to:

  • Find their voices
  • Create positive self-images
  • Understand teen dating violence and other types of violence
  • Develop safe and healthy relationships
  • Take leadership positions in their schools and communities to teach others how to respond to and prevent abuse.

    • For more information about CONNECT Youth’s Girl Empowerment program, contact Sharene Roig at sroig@connectnyc.org.

    Transitioning Into Men

    Transitioning into Men works with young men to end violence against women and girls. Making men allies in this effort, the program encourages men to:

  • Examine the cultural beliefs about race, class and gender that lead to violence
  • Understand teen dating violence and other types of violence
  • Develop safe and healthy relationships
  • Find and use tools and options to make different choices in their lives
  • Take leadership positions in their schools and communities to teach others how to respond to and prevent abuse.

    • For more information about CONNECT Youth’s Transitioning into Men program, contact Marlon Walker at mwalker@connectnyc.org.