The Interfaith Youth Action Group (IYAG) offers a diverse group of high school students the opportunity to engage in interfaith dialogue. The youth are trained as leaders and learn to work with their peers of different faiths to pursue social justice. They act as examples to their communities of advocates for Interfaith Action.
Approximately 12 high school students are selected each year. The students design year-long social justice initiatives in small groups of three to four each assigned several of the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which form the foundation of their programs. The youth will find community service opportunities in each of the MDGs areas and work with their peers and community to support organizations in DC and around the world through volunteer work and fundraising efforts.
The IYAG was started in 2010 as a partnership between ML Resources Social Vision and 9/11 Unity Walk. Social Vision is the venture philanthropy arm of ML Resources, LLC, a Washington, D.C.-based private investment firm. Social Vision provides seed funding and support for social entrepreneurs and innovative initiatives in their earliest stages. IYAG is a pilot initiative in the Washington, D.C. area that builds on previous efforts by the Tony Blair Faith Foundation’s Faiths Act Fellows.