The opportunities listed below were assembled by the city’s Youth Opportunities Program team. To request additions or changes to this list, please e-mail Mario Martinez-Varelas at martinez-varelasm@bouldercolorado.gov.

The city cannot recommend or endorse any of these groups and suggests you ask questions and do your own research before making any commitment. As always, if you feel unsafe or uncomfortable at any time you should immediately talk to a trusted adult and ask for help.

  • Raíces Vivas Program
    • Raíces Vivas (Living Roots), formerly known as ELLOS (Engaged Latino Leaders Offering Social-change), is directed toward building positive development in Latino youth in elementary, middle, and high schools. The program implements the Teen Outreach Program curriculum to prevent substance use, violence, and other factors which lead to dropouts in middle school. While also building trust, allowing youth the space to share their community-building ideas, and learning how to be leaders, along with choosing healthy alternatives.
    • For more information, contact israel@elcentroamistad.org.
    • Target Audience: Grades 3-12
  • BMoCA’s Teen Studio Project
    • Join other students with a love of art and social justice in this semester-long studio project at Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art. This teen program meets in-person weekly during the spring and fall semesters. Applications are free and open for a limited time. They are open to high school students all throughout Boulder County.
    • Contact education@bmoca.org for more information.
    • Target Audience: Grades 9-12
  • Boulder Public Library Teen Advisory Board (BTAB)
    • Members of the BTAB earn volunteer service hours while helping the library meet the needs of teens in the community. Plan library events, provide feedback about resources and services, and assist staff at library programs on this hybrid in-person/online board to get involved and make a difference in your community.
    • Contact byrnesl@boulderlibrary.org for more information.
    • Target Audience: Grades 6-12
  • Boulder Valley Health Center (BVHC)’s REAL: Youth Advisory Board
    • Reproductive Justice, Education, Advocacy, and Leadership (REAL) is a Youth Advisory Council at BVHC. After 22 years of incorporating youth within their practice, REAL is an opportunity to welcome young people into spaces across BVHC and BVSD in order to bring in youth expertise and power and to guarantee meaningful youth engagement in the fight for sexual and reproductive justice and peer-to-peer sexual health education. Members will have the opportunity to dive deeper into their knowledge about sex and sexuality education, advocate for reproductive rights and justice both at our clinic and in the community, and help provide sex education lessons to middle schools in Boulder County. Meets every other week on Wednesday nights starting in October of 2024.
    • Contact gharkins@bvwhc.org for more information.
    • Target Audience: Grades 9-12
  • Colie’s Closet
    • Colie’s Closet is a non-profit youth-led education organization that works to spread understanding of depression and the prevention of youth suicide within our community. Colie’s Closet uses proceeds from fundraisers and donations to pay for free counseling and therapy for depressed and suicidal youth. High school students are taught how to present in middle school and high school classes to spread awareness about mental health.
    • Contact coliesclosetboco@gmail.com for more information.
    • Target Audience: Grades 9-12
  • Colorado Therapeutic Riding Center (CTRC)
    • CTRC recruits volunteers ranging from early teens to retirees, but all make a difference no matter their skills, special talents, or previous experience. CTRC provides all the training needed to be part of the volunteer community, both in the arena and out. Volunteer opportunities are even extended to education surrounding about disabilities, development or refinement of horse handling skills, and experiencing the power of the human-animal bond while increasing physical fitness and enjoying the social benefits of volunteering.
    • Contact volunteer@ctrcinc.org for more information about volunteering and other programs at CTRC.
    • Target Audience: Ages 14+ (With Horse Experience) and 16+ (Without Horse Experience)
  • Colorado Young Leaders (CYL)
    • CYL is where collaboration between community and youth thrives, igniting transformative change through the power of youth voice. Meaningful youth-led progress is born from active participation and dialogue. CYL’s unique Service Adventures empower youth to utilize their passions for leadership in causes they care about. Tailored Leadership Workshops foster unity in action and drive forward-thinking. In CYL’s annual Think Like a Genius Challenge, young leaders build community impact toolkits while uncovering team dynamics and perseverance. Join CYL in shaping a future where optimism and action intersect, where every voice, especially those of the youth, matters.
    • For more information on these opportunities and more, contact info@coloradoyoungleaders.org.
    • Target Audience: Ages 14-19
  • Emergency Family Assistance Association (EFAA) Youth Volunteer
    • EFAA Volunteers can aid their community in a variety of different ways at their food bank in Boulder, including assisting shoppers, packing/stocking shelves, and unloading food delivery trucks. Shifts are offered at both mornings and nights regularly throughout the week and can fit into all schedules.
    • For more information, contact info@efaa.org.
    • Target Audience: Ages 15+
  • Growing Gardens Cultiva Youth Project
    • The Cultiva Youth Project is a youth leadership program that provides teens with the opportunity to operate an urban organic farm, growing produce for the local community while developing leadership and job skills. In Boulder, the youth seed, tend, and harvest produce for Growing Garden’s CSA program, which provides a weekly share of vegetables for 80 community members. In Longmont, the food grown is distributed to the Longmont Community three ways; as donations through local partners, at no cost to participants of Growing Garden’s on-farm programs, or it is sold at below market rates through on-site farm stands.
    • Target Audience: Ages 14-18
  • Growing Gardens Children’s Peace Garden Programs
    • Growing Garden’s youth programs are designed to reconnect children with the earth. Activities teach children about the source of food they eat, organic gardening, and the importance of biodiversity and community. Children learn and practice peace, respect, environmental stewardship, and friendship through curriculum that includes art, reading, cooking, and nature-based activities. Growing Gardens also hosts youth volunteer days over Spring Break and Thanksgiving Break to encourage youth to make a difference in their community in a tangible and meaningful way.
    • For more information about these events, contact info@growinggardens.org.
    • Target Audience: Ages 3-11
  • Growing Up Boulder (GUB) Internships & Volunteers
    • GUB is a child- and youth- friendly city initiative which seeks to make sure that children’s rights are reflected in local policies, laws, programs, and budgets. This initiative, which is a partnership among the University of Colorado, the City of Boulder, the Boulder Valley School District, and other local non-profit organizations, supports students of all ages as they make change in the City of Boulder. Teen interns practice community engagement in real-world participatory design projects from youth, as well as working on the city’s current projects in the areas of Open Space and Mountain Parks (OSMP), Parks and Recreation, Transportation and Planning, Sustainability and Housing, and more. Contact info@growingupboulder.org for more information about GUB internship, volunteer opportunities, and additional programming.
    • Target Audience: High School Juniors & Seniors (Internship) or all ages (Volunteering and more) Updated 06/2023
  • Rocky Mountain Equality (RMEQ) Boulder County LGBTQ+ Youth Groups and Internships
    • Through RMEQ’s weekly middle school and high school support groups, you can help create and implement arts programming for other lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning or allied youth. Additionally, RME offers two cohorts of three paid internships to plan their two biggest community youth events, Night of Noise and LGBTQ+ Youth Night, who do both collaborative and individual work weekly.
    • Contact chris@rmequality.org for more information.
    • Intended Audience: Ages 13-18 (Internship) or 11-18 (Youth Groups)
  • YMCA’s Lead Colorado Teen Leadership Program
    • Utilizing the existing resources in our community, this program will give participants significant leadership education and experience. This free program aims to provide selected local high school students with foundational leadership skills. Through hands-on projects, intrapersonal and interpersonal exploration and mentoring from community leaders, Lead Colorado helps young leaders form self-awareness about their personal mission and values.
    • Target Audience: High School Sophomores Juniors & Senior