Empowering Youth in Prospect Park

Caring for the 585 acres of Prospect Park involves dedicated teams of ecologists, arborists, educators and other professionals coming together to keep Brooklyn’s Backyard thriving and green. From spring through fall each year, those teams also include high school students. 

For nearly 30 years, the Prospect Park Alliance has brought teenagers from across Brooklyn into the heart of our work through the Woodland Youth Crew and Park Youth Representative programs. For many young people who are thinking about their future careers, these youth employment programs are the perfect opportunity to add valuable job experience to their resumes, receive mentorship from working professionals in the park and take an active role in preserving their neighborhood.

The Woodland Youth Crew (WYC) is an essential part of the Alliance’s work to restore and sustain Brooklyn’s last remaining upland forest. The program provides teens with training, mentorship and hands-on work experience in environmental conservation and park stewardship. This year’s crew of 25 youth from local high schools have spent the last few months delving into urban gardening and horticulture; including invasive species removal, planting, erosion control, trail work and more to help sustain our park while gaining valuable paid professional experience and skills.

“My favorite part about being a manager of the Woodland Youth Crew is watching the teenagers grow in both knowledge and resilience throughout the seasons: many have never had a job before,” said Kendra Srebro, Alliance Youth Program Manager. 

The program has many added benefits, as teens connect with peers from different backgrounds and revel in time spent outdoors.

“This program definitely helped me realize how much I’ve been missing out on community, and also really helped me see how much the park cares about [our] communities as well,” said Arielle, who has been part of the WYC for two years and plans to join the Air Force and study business after high school. 

“We all come from different backgrounds, yet we’re all working on the same [projects],” said Russell, a high school junior who joined the WYC this year. He said the project he was most proud of was cleaning up a section of the park’s woodland, removing trash and adding cribbing to prevent erosion.

At Lefferts Historic House, six Park Youth Representatives (PYRs) welcomed and guided visitors through the museum, and assisted with daily programs, which explore the lives, resistance and resilience of the Indigenous people of Lenapehoking, whose unceded ancestral lands the park and house rests upon, and the Africans enslaved by the Lefferts family.

“This year, we had the opportunity to recruit students deeply interested in Black history. This has made this year’s cohort especially dedicated to their work at the museum and eager to participate in programs and research projects,” said Riah Kinsey, Alliance Public Programs Manager. “As the summer comes to a close, they have developed very sophisticated opinions about what we do at the museum, and they offer that back to us to make our work better and more effective.”

“You learn something new every time you come here,” said Jett, a high school student with a love for history. “This isn’t just a house in Prospect Park; it’s a place where you can come to learn something and see the struggles of other people before you.”

At the Prospect Park Boathouse, a team of 15 PYRs made a meaningful impact by educating people of all ages on park nature and ecosystems. The experiences and skills that PYRs gain can lead to meaningful career steps. One PYR from an earlier cohort, Attiqa Sajjad, was recently hired by the Alliance as a Public Programs Coordinator, and has gone on to refine the programs that she first worked on as a high school student. 

“We create opportunities for conservation leaders to follow their curiosity, develop their talents, collaborate and inspire others,” said Public Programs Manager Camilla Wilson.”Watching them move from uncertainty to confidence and helping them realize that they are often capable of much more than they initially believe.”

As part of the Alliance’s Youth Development Initiative, the programs are expanding to offer deeper training, year-round support, and clear pathways into higher education, green careers and civic leadership. The future of PYR and WYC is centered on growth, equity and impact, transforming work opportunities into long-term experiences that prepare Brooklyn teens to thrive as stewards of the park and as leaders. 

Learn more about Youth Employment Programs in Prospect Park.

Youth Employment Programs receive generous support from The Pinkerton Foundation, The Ichigo Foundation, The Heckscher Foundation for Children, The Carol and Edmund Blake Foundation, The Gray Foundation, Macy’s, The William C. Bullitt Foundation and The Zeldin Foundation.