OUR HISTORY

In 1996 American-African Youth Association/l’association des jeunes americain et africain formed through Youth With A Mission Canada (YWAM); an international Christian based organization working in discipleship training and community outreach. In 2003, Global gained independence from YWAM and in 2006 was granted its own Canadian charitable status.

Our association’s three founders, Dave Skene, Jill Steckley Leis and E.J. Horvath began running international trips of high-school students from Kitchener, Waterloo and Hamilton, Ontario. Eventually, as these leaders and team members moved onto university, so did the roots of this program. As the interest grew, so did 2AYA’s educational material and passion for social justice. These short-term justice education trips took young people to various developing countries around the world. The purpose of these trips was to challenge young people to use their lives to help understand and change the world into a better place.

Since these early years, our organization has expanded and evolved in parallel with our growing body of volunteers and community partners, while still remaining a grass-root, relationship-based organization. Today, 2AYA works in solidarity with a number of communities throughout Latin America, Africa, the Balkans, Southeast Asia and North America. From the 2AYA Team program, the family has created new programs and projects with goals of providing education and facilitating transformational development. These new projects help us engage and empower young people at home, in their own communities and hearten them to make positive changes in everyday life. It’s our way of continuing education and keeping the inspiration students receive