Youth Re:Action Corps is humbled to be among those selected to the semi-final round of the Echoing Green Fellowship. Launched in 1987, Echoing Green's mission is to spark social change by identifying, investing and supporting the world's most exceptional emerging leaders and the organizations they launch.  Through a two-year fellowship program, they help a network of visionaries develop new solutions to society’s most difficult problems.

On January 12th, Youth Re:Action Corps will be spotlighted on cable television, channel 99, for a 30 minute interview with Executive Director, Courtney Klein.

Join Youth Re:Action Corps January 7-12 for a hearty western meal and 25% of proceeds from sales will benefit the organization. Bring the entire family!

Youth Re:Action Corps is spotlighted on the front page of the Mesa Tribune. The article is reprinted below. 

From playing piano at nursing homes to replacing hut roofs in a Yucatán Peninsula village in Mexico, she always is finding ways to help others.

This year, the Mesa woman started her own nonprofit organization in Tempe. Klein’s new group, Youth Reaction Corps, is winning support from Valley schools for encouraging teenagers to help solve community problems.

It also has drawn attention from the United Nations. U.N. officials are discussing how to expand her corps to help youth and their communities worldwide address poverty.

All this, and she’s only 22.

Her mother is in awe of her daughter’s generous spirit.

"I raised her Catholic," said her mom, Pam Klein of Mesa. "I don’t know if that had something to do with it. My other daughter, Jaimie, is the same way. It must be in the gene pool or something."

Courtney Klein, a member of St. Timothy Catholic Community in Mesa, graduated from Arizona State University in May with a degree in nonprofit leadership and management.

But she hadn’t always known that she’d specialize in charitable organizations. As a college student, Klein wanted to become a broadcast journalist. She didn’t think about a career in nonprofit work until she was on a charitable trip, working as Spanish translator for a boy who was getting double cleft-palate surgery.

Then, Tom Parks, a friend in Scottsdale, asked: "Have you ever thought about opening up your own nonprofit?"

Parks said he thought Klein would enjoy charity work because "she just has more motivation than most of us. When she puts her mind to it, she can really do great things."

Parks triggered a life changing decision for Klein. After returning to the East Valley, she switched majors.

At first, Klein’s decision to specialize in nonprofits worried her mother, who said that like many parents, she saw her daughter on track for a secure corporate job.

"But she just persevered," Pam Klein said. "And she’s proven me wrong."

In February, Courtney Klein established Youth Reaction Corps with help from ASU’s Edson Student Entrepreneur Initiative, a program established with a gift by businessman John Orin Edson. His endowment provides startup support for students to open businesses, and even gives them some office space near Mill Avenue and University Drive in Tempe.

Youth Reaction Corps is based in that office. She’s spent the year seeking support and arranging to work with 85 teenagers at three Mesa high schools: Red Mountain, Westwood and Mesa.

They were asked to propose ideas for bettering their communities. With help from four college mentors, students will learn how to raise funds, win support and resources to make their ideas come alive over the course of 18 weeks.

The students’ ideas ranged from raising awareness about international issues, such as the Sudanese conflict in Africa, to establishing local youth centers. One student wants to develop an educational program to teach children about the dangers of drug abuse.

"I was blown away by what they’re thinking about," said Klein, whose organization recently won a grant from Intel and another from SRP worth $3,000 each.

Klein’s goal is to start the corps in other school districts in the Valley and, with help from the United Nations, expand it worldwide.