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Welcome to the online headquarters for New Mexico Youth and Government, a program of the YMCA of Central New Mexico. We offer a unique, hands-on learning experience for high school students throughout the state. Through developing leadership skills and networking with community leaders, our delegates are ready to excel in life after high school.
YMCA Youth and Government brings the workings of state government alive to students. Through this program, the YMCA creates a unique opportunity for students across New Mexico to discuss the issues relevant to them and their communities and work together to form a solution. Delegates in Youth and Government learn to listen to their peers to discover new ways of looking at complex problems.
There are many diverse ways to participate in Youth and Government. A majority of delegates will participate in the Legislative Branch, joining either the House or Senate. Delegates also have the choice to join our Judicial Branch to serve as an attorney arguing appellate law before the Supreme Court, or the Forum to participate in small-group in-depth debate on a pre-determined topic. By application only, delegates may choose to participate in the Media, or as a member of the Governor’s Cabinet or Attorney General’s Cabinet.
New Mexico Youth and Government is partially funded by a generous grant from the Hatton W. Sumners Foundation.
"Democracy is not a spectator sport."
Marian Wright Edelman
