The Youth Leaders Program provides New York City based high school students with the opportunity to immerse themselves in composting and environmental justice-based education. Every summer BK ROT employs four to seven students, guiding the youth through trips, the composting process, and what it means to advocate for a more sustainable future. YLP is intended for young folks interested in the environment, NYC's waste systems, community organizing, and leadership-building.
This program provides students who are more prone to urban environmental inequities to learn and engage with preservation - ultimately allowing them to fabricate a basis for their future. As such, preference is given to BIPOC high-school students from Bushwick and surrounding neighborhoods.
Work Days
Learn how to maintain a compost system and engage the local community at a partner community garden in central Brooklyn.
Workshops
Expert community members share their knowledge and skills in topics ranging from urban planning to food justice and more.
Field Trips
Visit other environmental justice leaders and orgs throughout NYC, see parts of the city you didn't even know existed!
SCHEDULE
YLP runs 3 days a week, July-August, for a total of 18 hours per week.
In 2025, we met on Sundays, Mondays, and Wednesdays.
PAID TIME
We believe environmental work deserves to be treated with integrity and respect. Participants are paid $17 an hour and are expected to be present for three days per week across the duration of their summer.
APPLYING
Applications for 2026 Cohort are now closed.
Please fill out the Summer '27 Interest Form to be emailed when the applications open for next summer!
Applications Open: February 22, 2026
Applications Close: April 7, 2026, midnight
Interviews will be held in April, followed by an on-site try-out. Offers will be sent out in May.
If you have any questions about the application, you can email us at info@bkrot.org.
YLP Zoom info Session, recorded 3/18/26
Speakers:
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Shanni - Operations + Programs Manager, YLP Lead
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Dior - Director of Strategic Partnerships
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Karina - YLP Cohort '22, YLP TA '23, Social Media Coordinator (current)
Hear from the 2025 YLP Cohort
Youth Leader
"I feel like my relationship with my own community has grown so much stronger and I can see myself really being that environmentally conscious person in our community."
Youth Leader
"Honestly, I wouldn't change anything. There was a perfect balance between work days and field trips. I didn't feel over or underworked which was nice. Furthermore, I like how every week is dedicated to a certain topic where we learn something new every week."
Youth Leader
"Working with BK ROT has been one of the most unique and rewarding experiences of my life"
Youth Leader
"BK ROT has influenced how I view myself and has helped lead me down a path for the future. I have learned so much about compost and other environmental justice work."
Youth Leader
"I really enjoyed the various organizations that this program connected us with. I feel so much more in tune with the EJ scene of NYC. I can now navigate advocating for what I believe is right."
Youth Leader
"Being a youth leader means being the next generation to do good. It means that we are young but capable of great things. This was the most productive summer I've ever had, and it genuinely was perfect. I've gained so much knowledge that I could not have gotten anywhere else."