Stewart Young
Program Manager

Stewart joined the YMC team in the Summer of 2007 as Program Manager. He has been continuously working with at risk Youth for more than 18 years. As the age of 16 Stewart was recruited in to a Non Profit Peace organization in his native Northern Ireland, at a time when the streets were blighted with the violence and Political unrest that were the “Troubles” in the 70’s and 80s. From that time he realized that his life’s work was to try and empower young people from marginalized communities to grasp the true potential of their lives.

During the 90’s Stewart continued to work around the world supporting at risk youth, with spells running street based youth programs in Belfast, Northern Ireland and Edinburgh, Scotland. During this time he also built up significant experience in the field of Residential Treatment for Adolescents and spent some time studying and working at a group home in Tongaat, South Africa. In 1997 he graduated from the Community Youth Work Program at the University of Ulster building on a previous BSc in Mathematics.

In 2000 during a trip to a Rugby Match Stewart met and fell in love with a young American woman who was vacationing in Scotland. By 2003 it was apparent that a life change was imminent; Stewart moved to Denver, Colorado and moved in with his new wife Robin, and his two new stepsons, Riley and Zach.

In 2005 the opportunity arose to move to California, where his wife’s family resides. Stewart grasped the chance and moved his entire family, which by this time included six month old Jameson, to Los Angeles. Once in Los Angeles Stewart looked for the organization he most wanted to work for and was immediately drawn to the vision of Deborah Constance who embraced the ideal that youth centers can be the agent for social change and improvement for a community. After working for A Place Called Home, which Debrah founded, it was logical that Stewart would move to its partner organization, Youth Mentoring Connection, where he could be directly involved with programs for at risk teens.
Dreams for the future involve watching kids grow up, helping to create the dream that is Urban Oasis and traveling the world with his partner, wife and friend, Robin. Eventually Stewart hopes to return to Scotland to help shape policy and practice for youth work there.