The goal of all SRBWI youth development programs is to provide a safe, caring  environment where girls can participate in activities designed to enhance their path to adulthood as productive, creative individuals committed to economic and social justice.   Arts, culture and spirituality are integrated into all program areas and promote the preservation and evolution of Black culture and history SRBWI’s work with young women is carried out at the local, state and regional levels. The work is led at the regional level by a senior program consultant and a regional youth organizer.  Alabama and Georgia have full time youth organizers.  The regional youth organizer is also the Mississippi youth organizer.   This staff and two young women selected from each state make up SRBWI’s Youth Leadership Development Advisory Committee.  The Youth Leadership Advisory Committee meets quarterly to give oversight and direction to the work.  State leads and State Coordinators are ex officio and attend these meetings as their schedules permit. 

Young women and girls are involved in all SRBWI local, state and regional gatherings and trainings. Examples of activities include HIV/AIDS education, public policy and advocacy trainings, and SRBWI’s Black Women’s Hall of Fame.  SRBWI YW are a part of other SRBWI projects such as Women in Agriculture, Women on the Move transportation company and Southern Journeys sewing project. 

Each year some 100 young women from the 3 states participate in the Unita Blackwell Young Women’s Leadership Institute.

Rev. Otis Moss III of Chicago and CDF-SRO's team at 2011 Leadership Institute

The Honorable Unita Blackwell from Mayersville, Mississippi was the first Black woman elected mayor in the state. Her legacy continues through the work of SRBWI, and particularly with this generation of young women and girls. 

  Since 2005, well over 700 young women and their mentors have actively participated in the five-day Institute. Highlights from past years’ YWL Institutes include: Panels on the contributions of the ancestors to Human and Civil Rights, Health and Wellness, and Asset Economic Development; interactive workshops on Fashion Design, Jewelry Making, Photography, African and African American Dance, Spoken Word and Shadow Sculpture on paper; forums on how Hip Hop and Media Images impact young women’s self image.