While traditional high school civics classes often focus on institutional history and abstract government branches, a growing movement across California shows that democracy’s real classroom is out in the community.

In her latest book, Learning to Lead: Youth Organizing in Immigrant Communities, UCLA Professor Dr. Veronica Terriquez offers a comprehensive look at how grassroots youth organizations are transforming low-income, second-generation immigrant adolescents into lifelong civic leaders. Drawing on a decade of statewide research, Terriquez shows that when young people have the tools to analyze local power structures, address their emotional well-being, and lead policy campaigns, they don’t just participate in politics; they reshape it.

For Terriquez, this commitment to youth advocacy cuts deep and is deeply personal. In 1994, Proposition 187 was approved by California voters, which denied undocumented immigrants access to government services. Terriquez witnessed firsthand a disconnect between political decisions and the realities of communities.

“I realized that voters were not understanding my community, and that many people in my community who were eligible to vote did not turn out,” Terriquez said. That pivotal moment sparked her own journey into grassroots organizing and voter education, eventually leading her to academic research aimed at lifting up and fine tuning the practices that empower young voices.

The 3 Pillars of Youth Power

Unlike traditional, apolitical extracurriculars like student government or service clubs, nonprofit youth organizing groups engage in what Terriquez calls “transformative political socialization”. Her findings highlight three essential components that drive this process: 

1. Attending to Developmental Needs: Addressing the real-world stressors faced by immigrant youth, from economic hardship to deportation fears, by embedding academic support, mentorship, and intentional healing and self-care practices into organizing.
2. Critical Civics Education: Utilizing popular education and ethnic studies to help youth connect their personal family migration stories to broader structural inequalities, power dynamics, and local policy debates.
3. Guidance in Civic Action: Operating as an apprenticeship model where young people gain hands-on experience in public speaking, meeting facilitation, voter outreach, and direct policy advocacy.

Terriquez notes that this work always starts with addressing immediate student concerns, whether that means reforming school cafeteria menus or even tackling major systemic hurdles like higher education access. She points to key historical wins, such as the coalition effort spearheaded by CHIRLA and the Wise Up! program to pass AB 540. This successfully opened doors for undocumented students to receive in-state college tuition. Today, youth-led groups continue this legacy by educating peers on the vital importance of voting in local school district, city, and county municipal elections.

Organizing Across Diverse Landscapes

Terriquez’s research also highlights how youth groups adapt their strategies to their local political environments. In tougher political climates like the Central Valley or Orange County, young people face complex and unique obstacles.

“Young people in tougher political climates have to worry about their safety,” Terriquez explained. “They have to make sure that they’re very clearly non-partisan to prevent any attacks from groups that may disagree with them.”

To navigate these challenging environments without inviting controversy, these groups often focus on non threatening, quality of life campaigns such as registering voters, adding crosswalks and stop signs near schools, and improving neighborhood walkability. These initiatives allow young people to safely learn how to leverage local government so it better serves their neighborhoods.

The Power of an Inclusive, Multi-Issue Approach

Today’s youth organizers are moving away from single-issue advocacy. Operating within a complex multiracial democracy, young leaders are embracing an all-inclusive approach that bridges racial, ethnic, and religious divides.

“People in our society, across racial and ethnic lines, have a lot in common,” Terriquez noted. However, she stresses the equal importance of refusing to gloss over the historical and structural differences between groups, Such as the distinct realities faced by Black men navigating police profiling versus immigrant communities facing deportation threats. True solidarity, she argues, requires attending to these structural differences when building coalitions.

Sustaining the movement: Mental Health and Self Care

Engaging in high-stakes advocacy comes with a heavy emotional toll, making mental health and wellness a cornerstone of modern youth organizing. Today’s youth face compounding stressors that the previous generations did not have to navigate to the same degree, including an overt climate crisis, severe economic inequality, and a deeply polarized political landscape marked by divisive rhetoric against immigrant communities.

Because of these compounding pressures, youth organizations prioritize creating safe spaces where young activists can experience joy, have fun, and simply be ordinary teenagers.

“That recharges them for some really challenging battles,” Terriquez said. “It’s just good for your health and your spirit when you take care of yourself.”

Looking Ahead

As the state approaches the midterms, Terriquez remains deeply optimistic about the political horizon. Spending time out in the field this past summer, she has witnessed firsthand how young people light up when they realize the tangible impact of their vote, stepping up to defend vulnerable community members amid intensifying attacks on immigrants.

“It’s a diverse set of young people that are standing up to make sure that people are safe and protected,” Terriquez said. “It gives me hope that we can emerge with stronger civic networks that really look out for people who are the most vulnerable.”

Ultimately, Learning to Lead serves as an actionable roadmap not just for organizers, but for educators and everyday community members looking to unlock the immense potential waiting within the younger generation.

“There’s so much potential in the young generation,” Terriquez concluded. “But it needs to be activated…through opportunities to find their voice, to learn about issues, to counter the disinformation that’s out there, and also to receive guidance in how they might be able to change institutions.” 

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Gabriel Angulo is a journalist based in California.