ABOUT  US

OUR HISTORY

For 20 years, ACTION YOUTH MEDIA has provided more than 5,000 youth with free classes and programs, saving their families high fees while simultaneously supporting and developing a potential career choice.

ACTION YOUTH MEDIA advances economic justice by creating a strong pipeline to Creative Economy careers, which is growing at a rate of 4-5% in the State of MD, to students who have historically been left behind by workforce development systems, including youth from low-income communities who identify as Black, indigenous, people of color, immigrant, LGBTQ+, and/or neurodiverse. 

But our story did not begin here… originally, in 2005, Gandhi Brigade was formed to train and encourage youth storytellers to become local community leaders of impact. We advocated for changes to a wide range of topics including immigration, safety, LGBTQ+, curfews, cyber civility and more.  Although our name changed to ACTION YOUTH MEDIA in 2023, the core roots and purpose remain the same, with a focused and targeted goal: training future leaders in media arts as a means of youth empowerment, advocacy, and activism.

In 2005, Richard Jaeggi decided to counteract the terror and violence that followed 9/11 by creating a local "peace army" of young people. He also understood the power of media and knew it was the means by which these youth could make a real difference. It was a bold idea, but there was just one problem - Richard had no media experience.

Still that didn't stop him - he went out and found a local company to donate camera equipment. Then he convinced friends with experience in the media industry to come teach the group how to use it. And with that, Richard's peace army became a reality. In 2014, Richard left us far too soon, but his legacy lives on.

Stylized camera clipart with a translucent star overlayed to represent camera shutter.

OUR VISION

Seven people sitting in a classroom, facing the camera. From left to right, one lays on a grey beanbag, one is on a white chair, four are on a brown couch, and one is on a red beanbag. The third person from the left is facing to her right.
Simplified clipart of a film clapper.

We envision young people shaping communities where everyone values and respects one another, and where everyone has opportunities to express themselves using media arts.

OUR MISSION

Action Youth Media’s mission is to create communities where young people build confidence using media skills to express themselves and to promote community building, multicultural understanding, and the common good. We offer free out-of-school programs for middle and high school students that provide inclusive spaces for youth to discover their interests, develop skills, prepare for their future, and thrive.

Two people in the woods taking photos of a fallen tree with their phones.

OUR VALUES

Youth leadership: Listening to youth voices, lifting up youth voices, & promoting young leaders.

Community: Coming together, sharing stories, listening to others’ stories, and healing and growing  together.

Healthy Earth, Healthy Humans: Protecting our natural world, urban green space, & healthy lifestyles. 

Visual, Performing, and Media Arts: Powering youth to express their experiences and to build empathy.

Stylized clipart of a megaphone.

WE BELIEVE…..

… in the fair and equitable distribution of resources, opportunities, and privileges within a society, ensuring that individuals' rights are protected, including:

  • Valuing and supporting Black people, people of the global majority, those who identify as LGBTQ+, the unhoused and all who are vulnerable in our community, so that they can live powerfully, abundantly and beautifully in healthy, self-determined communities free of social, economic and ideological violence;

  • Ensuring a platform for the voices of those who live at the intersection of systems of oppression such as race, class and gender identity.

  • Supporting families regardless of their legal or economic status;

  • Ending generations of dehumanizing immigrants and refugees; 

  • Achieving and protecting rights of all regardless of physical or mental ability;

  • Fighting policies that don’t embrace people of all; and

  • Acknowledging that we do not know what we do not know. We are always learning.