East Liberty nonprofit Youth Enrichment Services Named 2019 Champion in Action
“Trib Total Media recognizes the power of the mentorship provided to young people in the Pittsburgh region by Youth Enrichment Services.”
— Jennifer Bertetto, Trib Total Media President and CEO
By Courier Editor, March 4, 2019
The New Pittsburgh Courier has learned that Youth Enrichment Services (YES), a nonprofit providing socially and economically at-risk youth the opportunity to achieve success through participation in mentorship, education and enrichment programs, has been named a 2019 Champion in Action in the category of Youth Leadership. The award, announced jointly by Citizens Bank, WPXI-TV, Trib Total Media and Pittsburgh Cares, includes $35,000 in unrestricted funding as well as promotional and volunteer support for the organization’s outstanding work, according to a release.
Youth Enrichment Services (YES) provides empowerment, experiential opportunities, academic enrichment and summer employment as positive pathways to future success. YES partners with local organizations to create synergy and generates transformative stories, national accolades and positive research outcomes.
QUINCY WANSEL (she, her, hers)
Workforce Development & Civic Engagement Program Assistant
Quincy Wansel is a youth programs and community engagement professional with a background spanning youth development, civic engagement, public history, education, and social justice. I currently serve as a Workforce and Civic Engagement Programs Assistant with Youth Enrichment Services (YES), where she support workforce development and civic engagement programming through student support, worksite coordination, community partnerships, program logistics, and data and administrative management. Previously, she served as Assistant Manager of Youth Programs at the Alice Paul Center for Gender Justice, where she led K–12 educational programming, facilitated youth leadership initiatives, developed relationships with schools and community partners, and created inclusive learning experiences focused on gender justice, civic engagement, and leadership.
Her professional and academic experiences have also included historical research, oral history, documentary research, public programming, and community-based education. She has worked on projects examining Black history, structural racism, social determinants of health, and the history of Green Book locations in New Jersey.
Her areas of expertise and interest include youth development, civic engagement, public history, African American history, oral history, gender and racial justice, community education, leadership development, and inclusive storytelling. She is particularly passionate about creating opportunities for young people to develop their voices, leadership skills, and sense of civic responsibility while connecting them with history and their communities. She is also interested in preserving and sharing underrepresented histories and using historical research and storytelling as tools for education and community engagement.
She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Africana Studies with a minor in English from Rutgers University–Camden in May 2023. My academic work has included research in Black history, oral history, structural racism, and the experiences of Black families and communities in the United States.
She is committed to supporting young people as they develop the skills, confidence, and opportunities to participate meaningfully in their communities. Through her work with YES and my previous youth-programming and community-history experiences, She strives to create welcoming, equitable spaces where young people can learn, lead, engage civically, and recognize the value of their own voices and experiences.