ADVANCING TRANSFORMATIVE POLICY
Join the Wabanaki Policy Youth Initiative!
Interested in becoming a Youth Delegate?
We’re looking for youth ages 16-24 to join the Wabanaki Policy Youth Initiative as Youth Delegates for the 2026 legislative session! Click the button below to learn about how you can get involved in advancing Wabanaki studies education and Wabanaki sovereignty.
Fill out the interest form by December 31st!
What is the Wabanaki Policy Youth Initiative?
SELF-DETERMINATION IN ACTION FOR WABANAKI YOUTH
The Wabanaki Policy Youth Initiative uplifts the next generation of youth leaders in what is now called Maine to take action for Wabanaki studies education and Wabanaki sovereignty.
Over the course of the 2026 legislative session, Maine Environmental Education Association and the Wabanaki Alliance will support a team of Wabanaki and non-Native youth ages 16-24 to learn about the lawmaking process and how to become an advocate in their state legislature.
WPYI CIRCLES OF SUPPORT
The WPYI circles of support include Wabanaki Project Coordinators Kaya Lolar and Sage Phillips, and six Wabanaki Youth Leads. Together, this team of Wabanaki youth will assist in facilitating a circle of Youth Delegates who will be exposed to the lawmaking process in what is now called Maine, learning the ins and outs of becoming an advocate in the state legislature, and will then be able to share these newly learned skills with other youth in their communities and beyond. All three youth circles will be supported by MEEA and the Wabanaki Alliance as adult-led organizations providing mentorship in policy and advocacy.
Participants in the Youth Circles will:
Learn how to track legislation, call your legislators, and write testimony
Gain civic engagement, leadership, and public speaking skills
Creatively share these skills with other youth and educate the public on these issues and what they mean for Wabanaki sovereignty.
Meet with Wabanaki policy professionals and legislators
Experience career development in civics
Tribal Sovereignty is Climate Justice.
The United Nations and NASA have publicly voiced the critical importance of including Indigenous voices in reaching global climate-related goals. Understanding traditional ecological knowledge is vital for solving environmental challenges. Ensuring that the first peoples of our land — the Wabanaki — can remain sovereign in their rights to steward their ancestral homelands, practice their culture, and exercise independence within each of their tribal nations is climate justice.
Become a Wabanaki Policy Youth Delegate!
Interested in learning how to make change at the state level? Fill out this interest form by December 31st!
WHO ARE YOUTH DELEGATES?
Youth Delegates (ages 16-24) will learn about the lawmaking process through tracking three different bills relating to the Wabanaki Nations during the 2026 legislative session (January - May 2026). You’ll engage with local youth in your schools and communities and learn how to civically engage in issues you are passionate about. Wabanaki youth and non-Native youth are encouraged to participate. No prior policy experience is necessary!
Receive mentoring from legislators & policy professionals
Attend biweekly meetings with other youth
Receive a $400 stipend for ~20 flexible hours of participation ($200 received at the beginning and $200 at the end of your participation)
YOUTH DELEGATE RESPONSIBILITIES
Attend monthly/biweekly virtual meetings with full group;
Attend occasional check-in meetings with a youth lead and/or project coordinator;
Learn and educate others on the practice of writing and delivering personal testimony;
Learn about legislative work flow and follow legislative work sessions for priority legislation;
Reach out to and support other youth (and others in their network) in educating on preparing and delivering testimony in support of priority legislation;
Learn about how to write an op/ed and write/co-write an op-ed for local newspapers and conduct other appeals for public support of the bill (optional);
Plan out and create educational materials connected to bill content and/or the general lawmaking & advocacy process to be used by community and classroom educators;
Attend Wabanaki Alliance Lobby Day in Augusta and/or any public session regarding the three bills (optional).
**All direct/grassroots lobbying that Youth Delegates may choose to participate in will be on their own volunteered time and not required to be part of the project, outside of the hours covered by the project stipend.**
WHAT BILLS WILL WE BE LEARNING ABOUT?
LD 1474, An Act to Strengthen the Teaching of Wabanaki Studies in Maine Schools. Click here to read about this bill.
LD 395, a federal beneficial acts bill, involves a nuanced issue that, with proper legislative support, could be a significant step towards regaining financial sovereignty for the Wabanaki, as “all four of the tribes in Maine [are currently] stark economic under performers relative to the other tribes in the Lower 48 states.” (Source below)
LD 785, which aims to engage a task force based on recommendations from previously passed legislation that protects Wabanaki sovereignty. Bills like this ensure that the Wabanaki are not only allowed the capacity but are welcomed to the table where environmental solutions are built – a notion that holistically benefits all, including the land we all live on today.
Source: Kalt, Joseph P., Amy Besaw Medford, and Jonathan B. Taylor. "Economic and Social Impacts of Restrictions on the Applicability of Federal Indian Policies to the Wabanaki Nations in Maine." Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development Research Report, December 2022.
Questions?
Do you have questions about the Wabanaki Policy Youth Initiative? Email Kaya Lolar, MEEA Policy and Wabanaki Studies Coordinator at kaya@meeassociation.org.
Interested in learning how to make change at the state level? Fill out this interest form by December 31st!