The first National Youth Summit was held June 26�28, 2002, in Washington, DC. The summit brought together a diverse audience of young people and adults to promote positive youth development, a policy perspective that emphasizes opportunities and services that help youth succeed. For 3 days, summit participants examined, discussed, and celebrated youth's journey toward becoming healthy and responsible adults.

The National Youth Summit was exceptional in two respects:

• Multiple Federal agencies collaborated to sponsor the event, and many top-level Federal officials attended. The sponsoring agencies—the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, in cooperation with the U.S. Departments of Agriculture, Defense, Education, Housing and Urban Development, Justice, Labor, and Transportation and the Corporation for National and Community Service—all showcased programs that focus on supporting young people and promoting positive youth development.

• Hundreds of youth interacted with adults representing youth-serving agencies and organizations at the national, State, and local levels. These youth were given an opportunity to influence the policies and programs that will shape their lives and the lives of children in the future.

The summit's objectives were to develop and encourage interagency collaboration, share information and resources about programs that support positive youth development, explore opportunities to apply the positive youth development approach to other programs that address risk behaviors, and emphasize and encourage the use of research-based practices. Participants attended workshops on supportive families and communities, safe and healthy lives, economic self-sufficiency and success, and settings and opportunities for development and service. At the summit's plenary sessions, participants heard nationally prominent speakers from the public and private sectors.

During the main plenary, U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft emphasized the importance of transferring values, knowledge, and respect from one generation to the next. Observing that today's youth will be tomorrow's leaders, the Attorney General said, "Children may make up 25 percent of society, but they make up 100 percent of the future." Mr. Ashcroft stressed the vital role that mentoring plays in shaping children's lives and improving their futures, noting "Nothing is more important in life than relationships and friendships that involve teaching."

During the closing plenary, OJJDP Administrator J. Robert Flores shared accounts of how OJJDP programs have improved the lives of youth. Urging the summit's young participants to continue their peer-related activities, he stated, "Youth need to experience what it means to make a difference in each other's lives." Mr. Flores challenged young participants to think of two people— youth or adults—who might help them implement youth programs, and he challenged adult participants to bring youth programs to their communities.