Electric Cooperative Youth Tour

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Electric Cooperative Youth Tour

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Nearly 1,600 high school students for a week in D.C. that will change your life. Check out our website at nreca.coop/youthtour from all across America.

Be part of a life-changing trip which brings nearly1,600 high school juniors and seniors to Washington, D.C. Students are selected by their local electric cooperative. Not only will you visit the memorials and museums in and around Washington, you will meet your United States representative and senators.

10/28/2026

The delegates from this year’s Youth Leadership Council went to work in their own hometowns during National Co-op Month!

Each delegate teamed up with their local co-op to tackle a problem facing their communities! Some delegates ran food drives or helped classmates register to vote. One wrote a children’s book about how power gets restored after an outage. Another started an art club for fourth graders.

Together, the council made a difference in 45 states. They stocked food pantries, filled clothing closets, supported families in tough spots and showed younger students what leading looks like. Every project started with a delegate asking what their community needed and then going out to meet it.

When plans changed, they adjusted. They leaned on the people around them and trusted themselves to lead. That’s concern for community, one of the seven cooperative principles, in real life!

See what they pulled off in the photo gallery at the link in the comments!

09/18/2026

When your Electric Cooperative Youth Tour Week ends. The investment from electric cooperatives just begins!

Long after delegates fly home from Washington, NRECA Youth Programs keeps building on that week: summer internships, the Staff Assistant program and the Glenn English National Cooperative Leadership Foundation Scholarship, awarded every year to Electric Cooperative Youth Tour alumni who are in college right now. Since 2014, the foundation has invested more than $100,000 in them.

Meet the five scholars who join that list this year.

🏆 $10,000 recipient: Ava Files, Talquin Electric Cooperative, studying international affairs and global security at Florida A&M University

🏆 $1,000 recipients:
Austin Dean, Southside Electric Cooperative, biochemistry at Christopher Newport University
Maggie Martin, 4-County Electric Power Association, biomedical sciences at Auburn University
Jose Sosa Martinez, Northwestern Electric Cooperative, chemical engineering at the University of Tulsa
Sydney Reardon, Tri-County Electric Cooperative, Inc., professional pilot at Southeastern Oklahoma State University

Three of the five scholars served on the Youth Leadership Council after their Youth Tour year. One came back to Washington as an NRECA program assistant. The week in D.C. was the beginning.

Read all five stories at the link in the comments.

08/31/2026

🔦 Co-op Spotlight: Butler Rural Electric Cooperative

Electric cooperatives don't just keep the lights on, they invest in the next generation of co-op workers and leaders, often right in their own backyard.

This semester, Butler Rural Electric Cooperative in Oxford, Ohio, partnered with Miami University's Advanced GIS class on a hands-on drone and mapping project. Thirty students split into three teams to gather real data from co-op poles over 11 weeks, and Butler Rural is now using that work to guide actual repair and maintenance decisions in the field.

It's a good example of what co-ops across the country are doing: giving college students real, resume-worthy experience long before graduation.

As an Electric Cooperative Youth Tour alum, you already know what that co-op spirit looks like. Click the link in our comments to learn more!

08/25/2026

08/18/2026

Kinda chic to be an Electric Cooperative Youth Tour alum

07/28/2026

41 delegates. 5 days in Washington, D.C. This is YLC Basecamp. ⚡

The Youth Leadership Council is where the Electric Cooperative Youth Tour goes from a once-in-a-lifetime trip to a year-long commitment. Each delegate was chosen by their peers and co-op leaders, not to attend another program, but to step up as a voice within the cooperative network.

Over the course of the year, YLC delegates build real advocacy skills, form relationships with industry leaders and learn what it takes to represent their co-op and community on a national stage.

Basecamp is where that work begins. This week, our 2026 class sat down with national cooperative leaders, trained in the skills they'll carry through the rest of their term and got a first look at the responsibility they've taken on.

Swipe through to see the week — and the class that's stepping up to lead. ⚡

06/19/2026

Don’t forget to grab your free pop socket at the Youth Tour store with any purchase — because your phone deserves to tour in style too. 😎📱

06/18/2026

Everything Youth Tour Hallelujah

06/17/2026

Youth Tour through a different lens 🏛️🕶️☀️

06/17/2026

All of your opps are at the Youth Tour Store! Where are you?

Address

4301 Wilson Boulevard
Arlington, VA
22203

Website

http://www.nreca.coop/youthtour, http://www.twitter.com/YouthTourDC, http://www.nreca.coop/

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