WHO WE ARE

Nevada Youth Empowerment Project

Nevada Youth Empowerment Project gives homeless young women (18-24) in the Reno area a chance to reroute their lives through a structured program that provides housing and basic needs, life skills training, opportunities to practice new life skills, and the support and love of a family. A principle-based organization serving women.

NYEP was founded in 2007. Over the next 5 years, we worked closely with a behavioral psychologist to build an independent living curriculum delivered daily that is grounded in standards, routine, consistency and accountability. NYEP went from a treatment funded model to a private funded model, also scaling the program from 5 to 14 beds in 2014. NYEP also opened its affordable home for CLP graduates in 2014. In 2020, NYEP begins planning its 10 unit intergenerational site, serving NYEP graduates and low income seniors.

Our Founder, Monica DuPea

How did you get where you are? Who put you on the bus to school and made you do your homework? Who taught you how to wash your clothes and made sure you had a warm bed to sleep in each night? Growing up, I (like many of you, I imagine) did not have to worry about resources. I had a home, family, and the great outdoors beyond our town. I had a caring mother who made sure I had clothes and food and anything else I needed.

Having a home is everything. That’s why it’s such a surprise to me that our society doesn’t put more emphasis on conditioning young people to have the knowledge and abilities to acquire and maintain their own home. As we are recognizing as a whole society, people need a base from which to operate. Somewhere to store and prepare food, clean ourselves, and sleep—the basic tasks of self-care. But most importantly people need somewhere to root, relax, recreate, and build wings.

In 2007 I made the decision to be an advocate for youth and opened the first independent living housing program, serving young homeless women. As executive director of a new youth agency, I began attending the meetings associated with homelessness. I found that some public-funded agencies provided assistance to foster youth aging out of care, but I saw an equal number of youth from the private sector not realizing indicators of youth success. The lack of adequate support and accountability services signaled an emphasis on processing clients over conditioning behavior, and on funding the organization over successfully transitioning homeless youth into established young adults. So, I built NYEP’s CLP to provide a level of accountability on both the resident and the staff to ensure there is always progress towards goals. I want to reform the way we reform older youth.

It’s critical that young women in poverty are able to find a pathway out. We are that pathway for many young women within that population. Without an intervention and approach like ours, young women are stuck to perpetuate their cycle of poverty onto their children and continue to burden society. We must come together as a community to help homeless underprivileged girls develop their education and skills to obtain sustaining employment and lifestyles. With your commitment as an NYEP donor, you can feel good about improving the lives of the young women we serve.

Meet Our Staff

Through our staff’s unwavering efforts to help struggling youth in our own community, we’ve created a sustainable independent living housing based program model that gets real results. Our dedicated, impassioned, resilient and resourceful staff members all share the same desire to scale this model, and components of it, as a solution for helping youth escape homelessness and poverty.

Monica DuPea, Executive Director

monica@nyep.org
775-240-2195

Monica brings to NYEP her keen ability to think of creative solutions and then lead her team to take action and implement them. After a short stint in the gaming industry, Monica left to do what gets her up in the morning: connecting with and motivating youth. Progressive, innovative and big-picture focused, Monica plans to use the programming she’s developed for NYEP to help other youth-centric programs replicate effective strategies and interventions across the country.

Cindy Allen, Housing Manager

cindy@nyep.org
775-747-2073

Cindy is a native Nevadan from Reno. She became passionate about working with youth while serving 3 years as an Americorps VISTA volunteer for NYEP. She returned to join the NYEP staff in September 2015 and couldn’t be happier about it. She is excited for the opportunity to help young people make positive changes in their lives. When she is not working she enjoys cooking, reading, gardening and spending time with her two children and family.

Marvetta Lewis, Program Navigator

marvetta@nyep.org
775-747-2073

Marvetta Lewis is an aged out foster youth from Washoe County, Nevada. In her role as a Program Navigator, Marvetta uses her harsh past and growth mindset to empathize with and motivate youth to change. Each day, she assists youth residents with completing assignments and tasks. She loves that she’s in a space where youth residents can open up and get advice and guidance in a judgement free environment. Marvetta is very passionate about NYEP and its mission. She always says she’s “all about peace, love and happiness and believes honesty is the best policy.” In her off time, she spends time with her son, attends school, and socializes with her mother and friends. Aging out of care to homelessness and being a single mother has given Marvetta the strong will needed to overcome all the struggles that come her way.

Liliana Ledezma, Self Defense Instructor

As a graduate of NYEP’s Community Living Program, and as a fulltime employed professional in the community who has traveled abroad, Liliana’s background gives her a unique skill-set and ability to connect with peers who are struggling to make positive choices. She is a certified Jiu Jitsu instructor teaching self defense at NYEP each week. Liliana is also a runner and an artist.

Katie Colling, Transition Specialist

Katie is a single mom of two kiddos. She’s super passionate about creating positive social change in the community. Her knowledge of community resources and what it takes for people to move from point A to point B, prime her to work with young women striving to improve their lives. In 2012, Katie co-founded Reno Initiative for Shelter and Equality, where she was the vice president and free market director. In 2017 she began growing food for people living outside. In 2022, she co-founded Soil Solidarity to become a communal teaching garden where people can grow food, live and learn new skills. Katie loves art, plants, and music and can paint, draw, and craft.

Meet Our Board

Each of NYEP’s board members plays an active and central role in developing resources and carving a path to support the work we do. Our Board has important responsibilities, including participating in fundraising activities, governing finances, developing policies and making major decisions for NYEP as a whole. The following professional, driven and selfless individuals support our mission and devote their time, resources, talents and relationships to complete agency goals while actively involved on the NYEP Board.

Marilyn York, President | Family Law Attorney | Member since 2012

Marilyn D. York is the owner and sole proprietor of one of the largest family law firms in Reno, Nevada. She opened her firm in 2001 and presently has ten employees. The firm specializes in family law with an emphasis on men’s rights. Marilyn carefully chose her career because of her passion for families, children and relationships. Despite her emphasis on male clientele, Marilyn has deep compassion for women and children in need. Finding NYEP was the perfect outlet to channel her compassion and energy toward helping female youth who need assistance to transition into self sufficiency. She is a proud member of the Board, which is comprised of very qualified and credentialed professionals who bring a unique diversity to this small but mighty charity. Marilyn is presently facilitating a pass-through donation program, whereby $50.00 from each new client consultation fee is donated to NYEP. This pass-through donation program generated $1,500 for NYEP in its first two months! She looks forward to continuing to support this charity and is so grateful to her clients for their generous pass-through donations. It was because of the “Top 20 under 40″ awards that Marilyn was fortunate enough to meet the director and founder of NYEP, Monica DuPea. She is so proud to be a part of this beautiful charity and hopes to be a part of its future growth and continued success. It is through time and monetary donations from the generous and selfless people we have in our community that this charity is even possible.

Britton Griffith-Douglass, Secretary | Photographer | Journalist | Member since 2014

In addition to acting as the Secretary for the Nevada Youth Empowerment Project, Britton Griffith-Douglass is Vice President of Operations at Reno Engineering, a development services company. Britton is dedicated and passionate about assisting the youth in her hometown of Reno by being hands-on and available to the youth. She stands proudly behind the mission of NYEP and encourages education, participation and change in her City—beginning in her own backyard and branching out. She wishes to bridge gaps between youth/adults, business/non-profits and to assist in building an accountable ecosystem that puts an end to poverty. It starts with you. Britton is also the Special Events Chair for The Riverwalk/Liberty District, board member for both the Regional Alliance of Downtown and the Redevelopment Advisory Board, columnist for Reno Tahoe Tonight, founder of the High Heels & Hopes Fashion Show, and a Yoga Instructor.

Margaret Finel, Treasurer | Re/Max Professionals NV Realtor, Member since 2020

Margaret is a people centric Realtor in Reno with a strong background in customer service. Margaret’s motto is “Do the Right Thing Because It Is the Right Thing to Do”. She places a high importance on customer service and has found that if you take care of your clients, they will take care of you. With over 10 years of Real Estate experience, she knows and loves this community. Margaret has such a zest for life and loves to share that with the NYEP residents. Whether it’s floating the Truckee river, hiking the hills, cooking a French meal, or having a dance off; Margaret enjoys spending time with the girls and providing advice and lots of laughs. Her passion for helping the youth of our community is infectious. Margaret has a loudmouth and loves to spread the word about NYEP and all the amazing services provided.

Emily Reid, At Large | Professional Artist, Member since 2019

Born in Reno, Nevada, Emily studied art in Florence, SC, Bozeman, MT, and Sydney Australia before becoming a professional artist. She opened up Reno’s Chocolate Bar, Rockabye (a baby boutique), and assisted with the opening of the Discovery Museum, where she worked as the Visitor Service Manager. Emily is a single parent with a teenage daughter and a farm of over 20 animals. She is dedicated to making the world better by helping others (human and non) and caring for the Earth. Emily joined the NYEP board in 2019 after participating in NYEP’s annual Fall Harvest Festival. “I absolutely love how much Monica knows -not just cares- and has REAL solutions to problems that our community’s youth face. Homelessness is a HUGE issue locally and nationally. This is important work!!”

Brian Bosma, At-Large, Entrepreneur, Member since 2022

Brian is a local entrepreneur. He owns Huntsman Brewing. His previous work experience with creative marketing for Fortune 500 Companies has given him an impressive ability to create custom marketing strategies. He also served a full-time role in Northern Nevada Opportunity Zone Summit. As an economic agent in Nevada is to assist primary companies with growth, provide workforce support, solve urgent issues, make introductions to other businesses, government, and community resources, identify programs that may be of benefit, and assist with economic incentives for company expansions, Brian’s efforts resulted in growth and promoted a robust, diversified, and prosperous regional economy. We look forward to the good work Brian will do at NYEP!

Stephanie Peterson, At-Large, Director at Meta, Member since 2021

Stephanie is a mentor, manager, and friend to many. She brings her passions and energy to all aspects of her life, including her volunteer work, inspiring others around her to do likewise. With many years of experience at both Microsoft and Meta, Steph is a talented leader who can synthesize the complex and break down any problem into simple terms, which enables her and those she’s working with to collaborate more effectively to deliver better results. She has this unique talent to identify what’s best for the business, and customers and go after them with sincerity. Her keen ability to absorb and synthesize complex information, develop critical insights, and then drive data-driven decisions is something we’re really excited about at NYEP. She’s also a professional giver. Who wouldn’t love that about someone!

Guiding young women from poverty to opportunity