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• Diverse and Resilient Youth is a principle program of Diverse and Resilient, Inc., with the mission of building capacity in Wisconsin groups and communities to assure the healthy development of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth. Since its inception in 1995, Diverse and Resilient has held statewide youth conferences, two four-day youth institutes, five regional youth trainings, three regional consultations, over thirty leadership meetings, and countless one-on-one and group consultations. Diverse and Resilient serves as a catalyst to help LGBT youth groups get started, and continue to thrive, by providing mini-grants, consultations, adult and youth leadership training, and leadership coaching. Further, Diverse and Resilient provides resources for program evaluation, policy development, and program alignment with a broad health and development agenda.
   
• Gary Hollander, Ph.D. is the Executive Director of Diverse and Resilient, Inc., and a clinical faculty at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee and the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine. A licensed psychologist, Gary provides consultation on program development, community interventions, evaluation, and prevention programming. He teaches in the Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Studies Program at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee.
   
• Diverse and Resilient, Inc. is governed by a six member board of directors whose expertise are in the field of human development, social justice, finance, philanthropy, medicine, psychology, and health. They are: Gary Hollander, Ph.D., Kathleen Murphy, RN, NP, Diane Pollard, Ph.D., Davita Shanklin, Roger Siegel, and Leonard Sobczak. Further, an eight member youth advisory committee consisting of culturally diverse young people from 14 to 24 determine much of the program content for conferences and consultations; they also decide on the mini-grant awards and monitor grantee outcomes. Their names are not included because of sensitivity to disclosing identifying information about LGBT youth.
   
• The group of adult expert advisors to the Rainbow Alliance for Youth and Diverse and Resilient is the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Youth Development Advisory Committee (LYDAC). LYDAC members include staff of two youth serving organizations, staff from the Department of Public Instruction, staff from the Division of Health and Family Services, the director of a community center, university faculty, the head of PFLAG, and an HIV prevention specialist.
   
• Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) youth are generally an invisible and misunderstood group of youth. Many LGBTQ youth experience a hostile and unhealthy climate in schools and communities that is marked by violence, neglect and invisibility. Many are severely isolated and are at disproportionate risk for a range of problems including: suicide, violence, dropping out of school, substance abuse, HIV/AIDS and other STDs, and rejection from family and friends.
   
• However, having adult mentors, satisfying support systems, engaging community activities, and the skills to advocate for their own needs have been found to ameliorate these risks. Diverse & Resilient and the Rainbow Alliance for Youth (RAY) network of LGBT youth programs is proving that given empowerment and leadership opportunities, LGBTQ youth can be confident, vibrant leaders in our communities.
   
• Accomplishments:
  • The 2001 Diverse and Resilient Youth HIV Prevention Institute was a 4-day program held at the University of Wisconsin - Whitewater. Fifty-seven youth from 14 organizations attended along with 19 adult advisors, known as youth development specialists. Four Institute facilitators and 16 Institute staff skilled in group processes, youth development, leadership development, health promotion, and HIV prevention engaged participants. In addition to skill building in HIV prevention, youth and adults engaged in a variety of activities intended to expand their adherence to the Seven Pillars of Successful Youth Programs, a mechanism used by Diverse and Resilient to assist RAY member groups build strong, sustainable youth programs.
     
  • In 2002, Diverse and Resilient Youth has emphasized youth development specialist skills, organizational structures, and community cohesiveness. To this end, we have hosted two two-day Youth Development Specialist Retreats intended to support the work of these young adult advisors, foster the further adherence to the Seven Pillars, and promulgate guidance on group mission, policies, and procedures. Further, we have hosted three regional consultations (Fox Valley, Milwaukee, and Dane County) with attendance of over 50 representatives of LGBT youth groups and other community organizations working with LGBT youth. The content and direction of each of these has been different, determined by community needs. Finally, we have been evaluating the progress made by network member groups in adhering to guidance on policies and mission statements.
     
  • In 1996, Diverse and Resilient Youth fostered the development of a network of LGBT youth organizations in Wisconsin known as the Rainbow Alliance for Youth, or RAY. Since 1997, GALAXY, a RAY member youth group in LaCrosse, Wisconsin has managed that network, in large part because of the expertise of Marilyn Levin, its adult leader. However, since RAY's inception it has been financially supported by Diverse and Resilient Youth. During the 4th quarter of 2002, with the agreement of GALAXY, RAY members, and funders, RAY will again come under the direct management of Diverse and Resilient, as a more logical home for this network administration.
     
  • Since in its inception, over 35 youth development specialists (mostly young adults) and over 200 youth have been directly involved in the various capacity-building projects of Diverse and Resilient. However, each year over 1,000 Wisconsin LGBT youth participate in groups across the state which were fostered and developed under the guidance of Diverse and Resilient Youth. These are connected to hundreds more who focus their involvement through school-based programs.