Youth Equity Discovery Initiative (YEDI) Program

The Youth Equity Discovery Initiative (YEDI) at UC Berkeley seeks to provide undergraduate students – some shaped by lived experiences of marginalization – with a mentored trajectory of meaningful research experience around issues of youth equity. YEDI serves as a research mentorship and training program for undergraduates working on faculty-led youth equity research projects. YEDI also recognizes the importance of these students' insights in this work, and aims to empower them through cascading mentorship, skill-building workshops, professional development opportunities, and community.

In the fall, the YEDI program creates an annual cohort of undergraduate scholars who are engaged in faculty-led youth equity research projects. This year-long program supplements students’ faculty-affiliated research work experience and focuses on mentorship, skill-building, and professional development centered around youth equity research work. YEDI scholars make a year-long commitment to both their research project and the YEDI program. Scholars attend regularly scheduled workshops in both Fall and Spring semesters, culminating in a research symposium presentation at the end of the program. For more information about workshop content, please see our FAQ section below.

There is no direct application to YEDI. Students apply in early fall to URAP(link is external) positions that are noted as being affiliated with YEDI (use search term "YEDI" to find), or can reach out to our faculty directly for volunteer positions. Selected URAP and volunteer students are then offered the opportunity to join the YEDI scholars, a group of undergraduates working in youth equity research. For students interested in i4Y affiliated faculty seeking opportunities outside of the YEDI program, please see our Opportunities page.

For faculty members, the YEDI program can:

• Facilitate additional undergraduate mentoring, skill-building, and technical training geared towards your research.
• Offer mentorship coaching for your graduate student researchers and staff.
• Align with larger campus initiatives about enhancing undergraduate research discovery experiences.
• Facilitate opportunities to engage more undergraduate students and voices in your projects.

To participate, faculty must:

• Identify a research project that is both youth-focused and will be continued through the Fall and Spring semesters.
• Identify pieces of the research project that undergraduates can contribute to.
• Invest and engage in YEDI frameworks including our cascading mentorship model.

If you would like to get involved or have any questions, email i4y@berkeley.edu for more information. 

The Youth Equity Discovery Initiative (YEDI) at UC Berkeley seeks to provide undergraduate students – some shaped by lived experience of marginalization – with a mentored trajectory of meaningful research experience around issues of youth equity. YEDI serves as a training program for undergraduates working on faculty-led youth equity projects. YEDI also recognizes the importance of these students' insights in this work, and aims to empower them through cascading mentorship, skill-building workshops, professional development opportunities, and community.

Once students are accepted to a YEDI-affiliated URAP faculty project (see "How to Apply" above), they are invited to join YEDI, as YEDI scholars. To find a faculty member whose research is included in the YEDI program, search the URAP project lists for “YEDI.” 

While there is no direct application to YEDI without participation in an accompanying URAP project (or selection by faculty as a volunteer or research assistant outside of URAP), students may reach out to involved faculty directly and may be invited to join YEDI.

i4Y is a cross-disciplinary, innovative research hub addressing issues of youth inequity through collaborative research, training and community engagement. YEDI is an i4Y initiative.

There are a variety of research topics each year and previous examples include:

• Youth Experiencing Homelessness

• Youth Voice and Youth Participatory Action Research

• Student Mental Health and Well-being

• Youth Equity Research Translation 

• Foster Youth and Graduate Education

• Post-secondary Scholarships and Impact on Student Outcomes

• Climate Justice and Student Health Curriculum

• Immigrant (Latino) Youth

• Physical Education in Schools

• Data Interpretation by Students

• Immigrant (Chinese) Youth

• Being selected to participate in a faculty-led youth equity research project (see "How to Apply" above)

• Availability and participation during BOTH Fall and Spring semesters

• Mandatory attendance at regularly scheduled workshops

• Presentation at the year end symposium

• YEDI participants receive a one-unit credit (PH198) in addition to the units they receive for their URAP research

The YEDI program meets once a week for workshops. The exact timing is dependent on the year. In order to take part in the YEDI program, you must be able to attend the workshops at the scheduled time.

The YEDI program is a year-long program across Fall and Spring semesters. There are opportunities to continue in subsequent years as a Master YEDI scholar. Master YEDIs co-facilitate workshops, practice leadership skills, and contribute to the cascading mentorship model.

As a YEDI scholar, you can sign up for a PH198 class and receive 1 Pass/No Pass unit. This is in addition to the units you receive for your URAP research project.

YEDI serves as an additional layer of support, mentorship, and research training that runs concurrently with your role as an undergraduate participating in your research project.

The YEDI program can:

• Facilitate additional mentoring, skill-building, and technical training geared towards your research.

• Offer mentorship coaching for your graduate student researchers and staff.

• Align with larger campus initiatives about enhancing undergraduate research discovery experiences.

• Facilitate opportunities to engage more undergraduate students and voices in your projects.

To get involved, you must identify a research project that is youth-focused, will continue in the Fall and Spring semesters, and includes pieces that undergraduates can contribute to. Your project must invest and engage in YEDI frameworks, including our cascading mentorship model

YEDI utilizes a cascading mentorship model where faculty provide mentorship to graduate students who in turn provide mentorship to YEDI scholars. The YEDI program also taps mentorship from Master YEDIs, scholars that completed one year of YEDI participation and return to help facilitate the program.

The YES Program (Youth Equity Scholars) is the former name for YEDI (Youth Equity Discovery Initiative).

For any questions about YEDI, contact i4Y at i4Y@berkeley.edu.

Read testimonials from scholars and faculty about YEDI’s impact here.

Here is a list of past and current students who have been involved in i4Y, as well as the projects they have partcipated in.