Alex Koroknay-Palicz, NYRA’s Executive Director, recently attended a conference in Long Beach, Calif., organized by the Drug Policy Alliance. The conference attracted many leaders in the drug policy reform movement, including Scarlett Swerdlow, formerly of NYRA’s Board of Directors, and former Sen. John Vasconcellos (D-Cali.), who sponsored an important voting age bill in California. Koroknay-Palicz…
Transcripts of two new interviews have been added to youthrights.org. When he was in California testifying on behalf of a voting age bill, Alex Koroknay-Palicz had an opportunity to conduct an interview with Mike Males. Mike Males, who is a member of NYRA’s Board of Advisors, has written books on the oppression of young people…
NYRA still needs regional captains in the central, midwest and the northeast regions. Regional captains are responsible for chapter development. The job entails about eight to ten hours of work per week, and it may count towards school community service requirements. Anyone who is interested the positions should email Keith Mandell Also, NYRA is still…
A few months ago, NYRA Board Member Keith Mandell announced he would award a prize to whoever donated the most money by a certain date. NYRA promoted the contest on the forums and the mailing list, and the deadline was extended. NYRA’s fundraising contest raised a total of $1,050, falling far short of its $2,000…
For a long time, NYRA has sold its merchandise through Café Press. Café Press charged a lot of money, and NYRA saw little of the profit. NYRA has always wanted to create a store on its own web space, that we could run ourselves to raise money and awareness. Alex Koroknay-Palicz, NYRA’s Executive Director, recently…
Lots of great chapter updates in California and Vermont. NYRA Berkeley remains one of NYRA’s most active chapters. They will soon meet with member of Congresswoman Barbara Lee’s staff to discuss the possibility of lowering the federal voting age. The chapter will also hold a public debate with local politicians who do not support the…
Some time ago, NYRA board member Keith Mandell announced he would purchase a $50 gift card to whichever NYRA member donated the most money by October 21st. Since then NYRA members have contributed over $600. While we are grateful for this amount of money, NYRA can not continue to operate at this rate. It is…
For many years, NYRA did not have an office. The organization was run almost entirely from the homes and computers of its members. This changed when The Center for Voting and Democracy provided NYRA with an office in Takoma Park, Maryland, a suburb of Washington D.C. NYRA has also begun paying its Executive Director to…
NYRA chapters continue to grow and strengthen. Most notably, NYRA-Paterson, NYRA-Orange County, and NYRA-Berkeley. The NYRA chapter in Paterson, New Jersey has shown a great deal of promise. They have been traveling throughout the city distributing information about the city’s authoritarian youth curfew. Someone donated a full sized van, and the chapter painted the NYRA…
The new NYRA board of directors held its first meeting on the evening Monday, August 29th. Eight of NYRA’s nine directors were in attendance, and the agenda was packed. The board added Scarlett Swerdlow and Kevin Keenan to the board of advisors. The board appointed members to committees and discussed the possible creation of new…
