About the Project on Youth and Non-Military Opportunities
Founded in 1984, Project YANO is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit community organization that provides young people with an alternative point of view about military enlistment.
Some of our members are armed forces veterans who believe that high school students are getting a distorted picture of the military and war from recruiting ads and marketing. In particular, we are concerned that many low-income students and students of color are being diverted away from higher education and into the military, where they are found in disproportionate numbers.
In our base community of San Diego County, Project YANO sends speakers to youth groups and local schools to talk about the realities of military enlistment and war so that young people will better understand what is behind the armed forces sales pitch. As an alternative, students are given nonmilitary options for local job training and college financial aid. Project YANO also urges youths to become community activists and consider pursuing careers in social change. Read more about our purpose.
Project YANO maintains an office in San Diego at the Peace Campus and focuses direct outreach on young people in San Diego County, but we also provide resources and advice to other groups across the country. Our resource library includes tools that can be used to organize similar efforts in other communities.
Project YANO relies primarily on local volunteers and is funded mostly by individual contributors. To support this work with an online contribution, please visit our donation page.