Volunteer - Youth Representative

UNICEF USA NATIONAL YOUTH COUNCIL 

VOLUNTEER ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES

2026-2027 

ROLE

UNICEF USA’s National Youth Council members play a vital role in advancing child rights and ensuring young people’s voices shape decisions at the national level. As leaders within UNICEF USA, Council members elevate the lived experiences, perspectives, and priorities of children and young people across the country. Members activate their role through three core competencies—Lead, Represent, and Act—by educating the volunteer network on key issues affecting children and youth, advocating for policy and systems change, and bringing youth voice into spaces where young people are often excluded. Working in close partnership with staff and organizational leadership, National Youth Council members help embed youth voice into the organization’s culture, strategy, and operations, ensuring that young people are not only heard, but meaningfully influence change. Council members also advance child-centered governance by promoting formal mechanisms that embed youth voice in decision-making, such as child impact statements, youth advisory bodies, and children’s budgets. These efforts help translate youth priorities into concrete policy, funding, and systems change

RESPONSIBILITIES

COMMITMENT:

• Commit to serve a one-year term from August 3, 2026 to May 31, 2027
• Council members that are interested in serving more than one term are highly encouraged to re-apply
• Spend between 3-5 hours per week working on Council related projects, meetings, trainings and activities
• Spearhead youth engagement initiatives, and thrive working on well-organized and self-motivated teams
• Attendance is required for weekly meetings happening on Tuesdays, 7:30-8:30PM EST
• Attend and participate in in-person and virtual gatherings/trainings with the entire Council. (Note: UNICEF USA will cover cost of all travel and lodging of you and a chaperone (if applicable) for any in-person activities). Trainings and events:

• Summer Training 
  • For the month of August, National Youth Council members must be available for virtual training during the following times:

• Wednesday, August 5 @ 7:30-8:30PM EST
• Saturday, August 15 @ 12-4PM EST
• Sunday, August 16 @ 12-4PM EST
• Tuesday, August 25 @ 7:30-8:30PM EST

• Fall Training
  • We will have a mandatory in-person retreat that will happen in the Fall. Dates TBD

BENEFITS

• Gain practical skills in volunteer organizing, civic engagement, communications and advocacy
• Be part of a team with a diverse array of skills and passions that helps drive measurable improvements in child well-being
• Build connections with leaders around the country who are passionate about advancing child rights. 
• Learn from and exchange with UNICEF USA staff and expert guest speakers 
• Gain opportunities to be nominated for special service awards and accrue volunteer hours
• Stipend of $1000 will be provided to each member 

QUALIFICATIONS

• All applicants must be between the ages of 14-24 and live in the US during their term. (Students studying abroad longer than 3 weeks are not eligible to participate)
• Interest in community organizing, advocacy and youth-led action. 
• Interest in building skills in public speaking, advocating and organizing. 
• Can meet the time commitment, expectations and be a reliable member of the Council.
• Demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion
• Members will need reliable access to the internet and a device to participate in virtual meetings. 

UNICEF USA is committed to recruiting a National Youth Council that is inclusive of underrepresented identities to ensure the strategic direction of our work is as fair, equitable, and inclusive as possible. Applicants from traditionally and/or historically minoritized identities are strongly encouraged to apply, including race, ethnicity, sex/gender, religion, neurodivergence, disability, etc.

Given the above, the application at times asks sensitive demographic information. We want to assure all applicants all information and data will and is only used for the applicant review process and is not shared after the application process is complete. UNICEF USA treats our supporter data with utmost care and sensitivity. You can find a copy of our data privacy policy here. We also take special measures to ensure informed consent of children in our programming, as noted in our child safeguarding policy found here. If you have concerns, please feel free to email us at volunteer@unicefusa.org and we would be happy to answer any questions regarding the use of this data throughout our application process.

CONTACT US

If you have any comments or questions, feel free to contact volunteer@unicefusa.org with the subject line “National Youth Council 26-27”