• Teaching essential skills to
    empower smart, safe media choices

About Media Power Youth

All media is made with a purpose. The music, the colors, the actors and models featured — every choice is meant to influence a person’s thoughts, feelings and behaviors and shape our society as a whole. Media Power Youth’s mission is to provide curricula, training and workshops to build young people’s media literacy knowledge and critical-thinking skills through hands-on, engaging programs. Our goal is to teach youth to consume and create media safely and responsibly, reaping all of its benefits while recognizing the influence it can have on their physical and mental health, decision making and relationships.

Our History

In 2000, Rona Zlokower created MediaSmart with Selma Deitch, MD, founder of Child Health Services, to address the increasing influence of media on children’s health and behaviors. In 2007, the program became its own nonprofit entity: Media Power Youth.Since Media Power Youth’s founding, we’ve witnessed the growing influence of media and media technologies in the lives of youth. Twenty-first century media literacy skills are now critical to healthy development and success in school, relationships and careers. Media Power Youth — in collaboration with educators, health professionals, government agencies, youth-serving organizations, foundations, and research institutions — provides media literacy curricula that teach young people the skills to produce their own positive media messages and critically analyze, evaluate and interact with all forms of media.

The Power of Our Programs

What sets Media Power Youth’s curricula apart is our holistic approach to curriculum development. We collaborate with educators, pediatricians, public health professionals, and youth-serving organizations to ensure our media literacy programs connect with young people in authentic ways, promote positive media usage, and can be implemented effectively in a variety of settings. Media Power Youth was recognized for this holistic approach to program design and execution through the 2016 Nonprofit Impact Award from the NH Center for Nonprofits. We are continuously updating and improving our programs based on the latest media research. Our 4-6 grade curriculum, Media Literacy for Safe and Healthy Choices, has been evaluated multiple times by the Center for Media and Child Health at Boston’s Children’s Hospital. As a result, it is included in the National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices (NREPP) for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

Support Our Mission

Whether you’re a parent, educator, health professional, or active community member, we encourage you to get involved with Media Power Youth. Please contact us about volunteer opportunities or implementing one of our media literacy programs in your organization. We welcome donations as well to support the development of our programs that help young people manage the promise and perils of media.

Make a Donation

Meet Our Partners

Media Power Youth programs wouldn’t be possible without the collaboration and support of these organizations as well as many individual contributors, educators, and community leaders.

Meet Our Team

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ABOUT Heather

Heather Inyart

Executive Director
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ABOUT Molly

Molly Vallee

Education and Community Manager
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ABOUT Jessica

Jessica Dorsey

Professional Development & Curriculum Advisor
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ABOUT Erin

Erin Gannon

Educator Advisory Board Chair

Meet Our Board

Board Chair

4-H Program Manager, University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension

Board Treasurer

Finance Director, Beverly Bootstraps

Board Secretary

Developer, CNSI

Board Member

Advocate, National Center for Missing and Exploited Children

Board Member

Branch Manager, Bangor Savings Bank

Board Member

Account Executive, Systems Engineering

Board Member

Retired Library Director, Hampton Falls Free Library

Board Member

Information Systems Graduate Student, Cornell University

Board Member

Program Coordinator, CollegeTracks

Board Member

News Journalist and Producer