Every Hour Counts 2023

“In May of 2023, Fahren, the founder & executive director)  Ava Sims (SOP member), Suorsdey Sou (Program Manager), and I attended the Every Hour Counts National Conference in West Palm Beach, Florida. EHC is an organization that brings young people and leaders across communities together to discuss ways to engage, empower, and support youth around the nation. 

I attended and presented alongside Ava and Suorsdey. I have attended many conferences regarding Out-of-school time and summer learning programs and have gained many techniques and vital information locally and nationally about youth within programming. I have also presented at quite a few conferences and a summer learning program (NYLI)!

My favorite activity was the 3rd activity we presented in our session: allowing adults to create a job for youth. There were so many details they had to pay attention to like pay, accessibility, and qualifications. I also enjoyed the opportunity to bond with the youths who were in attendance at the conference, and I still stay in touch with some of them to this day! We got to eat together and go on small adventures around the conference area.

I would most definitely attend this conference again!”

Riya Richardson

SoP Core Member