Yaya Cochran 

I know me and my husband are visionary so we can kind of see the bigger picture. And then I personally feel like if you have the bigger picture, then you can have the path to that bigger picture. And I just collect people along the way, whose passions align with that. And so, I feel like once you get people who are passionate about something, all the hard work is done because they're going to give their heart and so when you align with people who are doing the work that you're doing, and at the same quality as you, it just happens.

Paul Meunier 

Hello, I'm Paul Meunier, the executive director of the Youth Intervention Programs Association, and I'm a youth worker at heart. How lucky am I, I have the privilege to meet youth workers from around the globe and learn their stories and share them with the entire world. I'm glad you're listening because together we'll learn how their life experiences shape their youth work. As you listen, I encourage you to consider how your experiences shape what you have to offer young people. Welcome to this edition of The Passionate Youth Worker. Altruism is defined as the belief in or practice of selfless concern for the well-being of others. Throughout my adult life, I have strived to become more altruistic. But I have to tell you, it's really, really difficult. And that's probably why a lot of people aren't like that. I want to introduce you to Yaya Cochran from Minnesota here in the United States. She is the founder and executive director of Intentions, a nonprofit working to better the lives of young people. She is one of the most altruistic people I've ever met. She has such a deep passion for young people, and is always willing to put their needs in front of hers in a big way. Let me introduce you to her as the guest of this episode of The Passionate Youth Worker. Yaya, thanks for being a guest on the show.

Yaya Cochran 

Thank you for having me.

Paul Meunier 

It's wonderful to have you here. Let's start by talking about your path into youth work. When did you first know you had such a deep love for supporting our young people? Yeah, so you were only 12 years old when you started this. What were you getting out of it? Why did it give you so much joy? What did you receive?

Yaya Cochran 

I was about 12 years old. I became an assistant Sunday School teacher at a church that I was attending. And this particular church catered to children in South Minneapolis and seeing the youth come there every Sunday, filled with so much joy, just really like struck my passion, to be able to create that world of happiness for them knowing what they were going back to. So, seeing the kids’ spark. We would do adventures, take walks, just really getting into their world and being able to see the world that they see exploring bugs, you know, different things like that.

Paul Meunier 

Yeah. And then did you continue working with young people or did you then go on a different path, get your education, and come back to young people or have you been working with young people, I guess ever since you just started at 12?

Yaya Cochran 

It's literally been ever since.

Paul Meunier 

Wow.

Yaya Cochran 

Stayed with the Sunday school program, I ultimately became a teen girls assistant teacher where I was helping with my peers. And then my ninth-grade year, I signed up for the education magnet at Edison High School where I really got that hands-on experience in education and youth development. And I feel like that was when the light bulb really clicked that while the development of their brains is like so important in the environments that they are in. And so, we were able to do hands-on experiences in the classroom in ninth grade year. And then that summer, I got a job at the YMCA and became a youth worker. And that's where it really just stuck as well.

Paul Meunier 

So, when you were in ninth grade, did somebody, a teacher, or a parent, or somebody push you in that direction or did you willingly sign up to do that work?

Yaya Cochran 

I willingly signed up. I actually remember being so excited that there was an education magnet, I didn't have to wait until college to really learn all this stuff. So...

Paul Meunier 

Wow, well that's amazing, because a lot of us in this field, you know, kinda ended up here accidentally, and didn't have that clear path. And so, you started working at the Y. Is that when you became more serious about turning this into a profession and really dedicating long, significant times to improving your craft as a youth worker?

Yaya Cochran 

Yes, so I actually worked for the YMCA from the time I was in ninth grade all the way up until I had my daughter, went on maternity leave in 2009. And I was working at the Y. So, I've worked in various positions, day camps, overnight camps, after-school program, I was a coordinator of an after-school program, and then the YMCA mentoring program as well.

Paul Meunier 

So, this was just in your heart, just something you were attracted to. You didn't have to question if this is the right path or not. It's just always been there for you, right in front of you. Where do you think that came from? Did you have somebody like that growing up or do you wish you would have had somebody like that growing up? Is there some sort of connection to that?

Yaya Cochran 

I would say, I get that from my mom. She was always the one who got down in our world and played with us. If we were playing Barbie, she would come and like hurry up and do a little quick scene with us or we were playing school, she would be the principal even though she was like watching TV. We would like send the naughty kids to her. And she'd have a talk with them and sit them in the corner and go back to class. And so, she did a really good job of indulging in our imagination and our play, as well as just really guiding us to stay youthful.

Paul Meunier 

Sounds like a great mom and you probably have wonderful memories of that. Were both your mom and dad people who gave back to their community, did they do like youth work or human services work or anything like that?

Yaya Cochran 

Ah yeah, my mom worked in Human Services. She was like a PCA. So, it was more of the face-to-face type work. And that's where I feel like I got it. I remember her taking us to volunteer at the different homes that she worked in. And we were like the only youth rolling people around to get their hair done or to dinner. So, she really helped us understand like that servant's heart. Although she wasn't a churchgoer, we would go like Sundays on Christmas or Thanksgiving or Easter, but she made sure to still instill those values in us.

Paul Meunier 

You said servant heart. Something I think about a lot is I've kind of coined the phrase, a servant youth worker. What does a servant heart mean to you? How would you describe that?

Yaya Cochran 

Showing up when no one else does, is a big way that I would describe it, as well as unapologetically sometimes. Sometimes, you know, we're not allowed to show up like we want to. So, being there even when people are telling you that that's not where you should be at, or different things like that.

Paul Meunier 

Yeah. Do you think you bring a lot of that to your work every day? Do you consider yourself a servant to other people?

Yaya Cochran 

I definitely do. Especially when juggling my schedule and understanding. I laugh but that's like a really big thing to me is really juggling my schedule. So, I have important events to go to. If I made a commitment to a young person or if I have like a group that day, I really make sure I'm there first. And so, that's like my servant heart. Understanding the commitment that I've made to these children and I don't get to not show up because something's fun or more glamorous, you know. I'm always there.

Paul Meunier 

I'm wondering, that whole service mentality and being willing to give of yourself, do you ever have any sense of maybe I should be a little bit more selfish or is it not even possible for you to put the needs of others after your own needs?

Yaya Cochran 

I'm learning that self-care for myself should take precedence. And so, before I would jump right in with two feet, and be overwhelmed. But now it's more of a checks and balance system, like, Am I able to do this? What else am I committed to? How does this timeline work? So, I still have that, but I am able to make sure that I can show up with quality and yeah.

Paul Meunier 

That's really good because when I introduced you, I was talking about altruism and I think you are one of the most altruistic people. But you can't do that without a service mentality, right? I mean, you can't say I really care about something and I'm willing to give of myself to get it done without sacrificing your own needs. Has that ever caused you trouble? I know you're working on trying to get that better life balance, but have you ever got yourself just over committed and thinking oh, man, I've bit off too much?

Yaya Cochran 

Yeah, I do. I also like to create events for kids and so I would have a party every weekend for kids. And there comes a point in time where I have so many events that I'm planning for young people that I'm like, When am I going to blow these balloons up? Can I use this color for this event? Can I do this? You know, and so that's when I feel like I bite off more than I can chew, when I'm literally creating things, like fun things for them, or workshops for them, and stacking those up. That makes me kind of overwhelmed.

Paul Meunier 

Okay, here's the tough question I'm going to ask you is, where does that come from? Is that a value you think was instilled in you? Is it a spiritual thing? Or is it just that you just care so deeply for young people that you're willing to do all that?

Yaya Cochran 

I care deeply for young people. The community that we're in is Brooklyn Center, and we're in the heart of Brooklyn Center, what I like to call the heart of Brooklyn Center, because the neighborhood around us is just filled with young people. We're half a block away from Brooklyn Center High School, and then we're half a block away from where the Daunte Wright protests happened at. And so, me and my family were there, you know, the nights there, we were bringing like umbrellas to the people. And really seeing what these young people were seeing for, I forgot, how long it went on. But understanding that that was their view of their community at the time. And me as an adult, it was hard to process. So, I was just wondering, like, what are these young people feeling? And so that summer I want to say, or after that, we bought the center. But it has always been my goal to provide a space for them in their community where they get the same quality programming, the same love, the same commitment as other youth does in more privileged areas.

Paul Meunier 

It's amazing. You talked about buying the center, and I want to get into talking about that. Can you explain to our listeners who aren't from Minnesota, what the Daunte Wright thing was, and that whole event and how you got involved with that?

Yaya Cochran 

So, I'm not necessarily involved on the front line. We were more on our own accord going up there with our family. So, Daunte Wright was murdered during a police stop by a police officer. And so, the community came out and was protesting. And I forget how long this civil unrest happened for but I remember it being so intense, and just seeing the pain and the hurt of the community. And there's an apartment building right across the street. And I forgot how many at it, but it was a lot of youth in that apartment building who were literally having like front row seats to all of these things that was going on, the riot gear that the police officers had when people were just being peaceful, you know. We brought the umbrellas because they were getting shot with rubber bullets and gas and all kinds of things. So, that was how I helped my family lean in. So, our kids brought umbrellas to kind of protect the people. So, that's what happened during that time.

Paul Meunier 

Yeah, certainly was a big event here in the state of Minnesota. And I don't know what kind of national attention it got. But I can imagine those young people who were there and witnessed that and the experiences that they went through had to be very traumatic for them. And they'll probably still be dealing with that for a very long time. That sparked you to purchase the center. And this is what I want to start getting into, your altruism here.

Yaya Cochran 

Oh, thank you.

Paul Meunier 

But we have to take a short break. But when we come right back, I want to talk to you about your decision to buy this center. So, we'll be right back.

Jade Schleif 

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Paul Meunier 

Yaya, right before the break, you were talking about that you purchased a center. And I don't know if people understand what that means. What did this event with Daunte Wright get you to be motivated enough to purchase a center. Tell us about that decision and what is this center that you bought?

Yaya Cochran 

So, the center, we purchased it from Brooklyn Center School District. It was kind of just sitting idle for a while. And it was actually a funny story. One of the custodians or building managers came in, right, a raccoon in the ceiling and so, like right after that, like, Okay, we need to sell that because no one's using it anymore. They had built another building for their services. And so, we purchased the building. And we've been Intentions ever since.

Paul Meunier 

How did you get funding for this building? Did you get a grant, did you get some sort of seed funding from some person that could afford to help you get started or how did you purchase this building?

Yaya Cochran 

So, my husband and I have a for-profit business that we manage and we run and so we used some funds from there to purchase the center.

Paul Meunier 

And so, you put your own financial well-being into this center. And what do you hope to do with the center? What do you hope to bring to the community with it?

Yaya Cochran 

So, right now currently, I feel like we're running at full capacity as far as like services that we want. Of course, I always tell people, the sky is the limit. So, there's always more to do. But currently we have a partnership with the Brooklyn Center School District where we provide I call them hybrid programming, which is like after after-school programming for young people. And we have eight programs in the schools and the center, where their youth come into the center and receive programming. We also partner with the city of Brooklyn Center to help bring events, Intentions events. We ourselves have different ten core values that we like to incorporate into all of our programming, as well as help the city through our initiatives. And so, right now we're doing our health and wellness initiatives. So, we're thinking of events that we can get young people connected with resources, other organizations who like have a passion for that, and we get them all together and kind of create these events. Our youth help us as well. And there's other things that's going on.

Paul Meunier 

Yeah. And I know, and we're going to talk about all the other things that you're willing to jump into. So, this center that you bought, are you a wealthy person that you can just go by a center like this?

Yaya Cochran 

Not at all. No. We like to joke that we ate ramen noodles for a while.

Paul Meunier 

Yeah.

Yaya Cochran 

Because that's yeah.

Paul Meunier 

I don't know how many people would do that. And you've taken on this big risk but you didn't really hesitate. And I know your husband is on board with this 100% too, is that right?

Yaya Cochran 

Yes. He does it's called the LIT Boys, Leaders In Training. And that's on Mondays at the high school. And he sent me a picture and there was like, ten young guys, sitting on tables, playing video games, he's like, it starts now. Like, okay. So, it was pretty cool to see that he's in the programming. Usually he kind of helps support, he'll go on the barbecue grill, you know, he'll be the one pulling up with the picnic tables and all the fun stuff. But now he's actually in the programming.

Paul Meunier 

I'm just in awe of your willingness to do that. I think, as I was mentioning, I try really hard to be altruistic. I don't think I live up to that very well. And then I meet people like you who are willing to take such big chances. And that's not the only chance you've taken right? You've got another program about farming that you just started. Can you talk a little bit about that as well?

Yaya Cochran 

Yeah, so we bought an 80-acre farm. And so, with that, we're going to really push farming initiatives and also environmental initiatives as well. So, we started a program called Environmentally Conscious Youth where we will literally try and find jobs for young people. We want to bring back Litterbug. So, we want to teach teenagers how to go into parks and really create community around parks and help young people understand that, you know, parks are here for our community, we want to beautify them. And then also figure out ways to pay young people to maintain them as well as provide environmental programs out of there.

Paul Meunier 

Wow. And did you purchase this farm the same way you purchased this center in Brooklyn Center?

Yaya Cochran 

Yes, we did.

Paul Meunier 

Wow. Do you feel nervous about that at all or are you just thinking, I care so deeply about this, it's all going to work out? How do you feel so comfortable with that?

Yaya Cochran 

I think me and my husband, I know me and my husband are visionary so we can kind of see the bigger picture. And then I personally feel like if you have the bigger picture then you can have the path to that bigger picture. And I just collect, I call them collecting people, they call it collecting people along the way whose passions align with that. And so, I feel like once you get people who are passionate about something, all the hard work is done because they're gonna give their heart and so when you align with like people who are doing the work that you're doing, and at the same quality as you, it just happens.

Paul Meunier 

And I know when we were getting to know each other you talked about when you were at the Y, you kind of always wanted to have your own Y, you kind of want to start something. Is this where you're trying to go with it? Do you want to establish something that's a mainstay in your communities that will be ongoing and supportive of young people, is this like a legacy you want to leave, or?

Yaya Cochran 

It definitely is a legacy. I always say Intentions is small, I don't know if I'll ever want to be on the YMCA's level. I'm very comfortable and loving grassroots. So, we have a lot of opportunities to do grant work. And you know, like, from a city and on a federal level, I'm not there yet. And so, I really want to maintain that small and personal experience that I'm able to have with Intensions without having you know, like the not necessarily Big Brother, you know, looking over you. But with that, I've always said I wanted the same quality of programming, the same quality of youth work, the same quality of services as the YMCA. So, even though we're small and we're grassroots and we like, are surviving on our own, I really want to have those same qualities that the YMCA has. And allow the children of this community to experience that YMCA quality right here in their own backyard.

Paul Meunier 

Your heart is so big. Do you get people to follow you? I mean, they must see this in you and go, How can I help? I want to be involved? I mean, do you find that it's, I don't want to say simple or easy, but are you able to recruit people into your vision and help them come along and get closer to achieving that?

Yaya Cochran 

Yeah, so I have a sisterhood of I think we're at 209 Black American women who we create a space for them to heal, grow, learn. One of the core values that we have is also serve. And so, a lot of those ladies lean into Intentions when we're doing like the volunteer and the service-learning projects. As well as if they're passionate about environmental issues, then they can lean in and now we have a committee that's gonna plan all of these great events with the young people. And so, a lot of the women who are in our programs, we run off of volunteer power, and so they volunteer their time. My goal is to always get them paid at least a paid volunteer position. But if nothing else, I know they will be there if the money is not there. And so yeah, I think it's easy because I have a big pool to pull from. And I appreciate your words, like you saying that I am altruistic and, you know, kind, I think they see I know, they see that as well. And so, it's when you come off like that, and people are able to like check your spirit and soul it's easy for them to follow you when they know that they're in good hands. And they're doing fun stuff with young people so...

Paul Meunier 

Yeah, everybody wins in that scenario, including young people, right?

Yaya Cochran 

Yeah.

Paul Meunier 

I could tell almost right away when I met you that there's something special about your heart and something special about your soul. And that is really what it takes to carry out a vision. This group that you're involved with, this sisterhood of black women, I think you said it's called She Is Me.

Yaya Cochran 

Yes.

Paul Meunier 

Are they all like you or do you stand out even? Are you the only one that's doing all these like freakishly good things or is everybody kind of at that level?

Yaya Cochran 

I feel like everyone's in their own lane. My goal is to have everybody following their dream. Is to have everybody living according to their passions. And so, I feel like yes, because once we get on an initiative, or once we start planning something, then it can get pretty big, fast. So yeah, I am around like-minded women. One of the things that we ask is that every time we're in a space with a young person, or with each other, or even when we're like engaging online that we show up as the most healed version of ourselves. And so, that means if something happens between me and you, we're checking that, not assuming ill intent and really just like coming as your most healed self. Because we know that everybody has things that they need to uproot. And that from our childhood, or just, you know, some people's mental capabilities. And so really showing up as the most healed version of yourself is what's going to keep that space beautiful and authentic.

Paul Meunier 

That most healed version of yourself, what a wonderful way to say and we're constantly in a state of healing, right, as life goes on, because things keep happening to us. Quick question, do you pull a salary out of what you do? Are you getting paid from the nonprofit organization you started or from the center or from this farm? Have you been able to recoup any of that money?

Yaya Cochran 

Ah, no. I think that's just my heart, I guess.

Paul Meunier 

It is just amazing.

Yaya Cochran 

It's like, can you at least put it in the 401k? I'm like, No, that's it. But I don't get a salary. With the grant that we are in the partnership that we have with the school, I was able to keep it very low, really low so that a lot of the money can go back into the schools and with the youth. So, we don't get paid for the center. We save Tuesdays for like community events. But other than that, the space is used all the evenings during the week for the young people. And no, we don't get paid for that. As well as the farm, not just yet, so...

Paul Meunier 

Well, this is what I'm saying. So, a lot of people talk about being passionate, a lot of people are passionate and really do care. But we all have the line that we draw somewhere. And your line is just way off to the side about what you're willing to do. And I can't begin to tell you how great it has been to get to know you, that I am grateful for getting to know you and learn about the work you're doing because the world needs more people like you. And I can't imagine how this place would be so much better if everybody had the heart and the spirit that you do. The kindness, the love, and the compassion that you show for others it really just stands out, it really stands out as something very different. So, thank you for all you're doing. And I wish you nothing but the very best. And I'm pretty sure you're gonna fulfill that mission because your heart is leading this whole thing. And if your heart is in it, nothing will stop you. So, thank you for being a guest on the show, too.

Yaya Cochran 

Thank you for creating the space for people.

Paul Meunier 

You bet.

Yaya Cochran 

I appreciate it. I was very inspired by the previous podcasts that I see. And I'm like, oh my goodness, there's people in the world doing great work so and being able to be heard as well.

Paul Meunier 

And before we go, I'd like to ask you what words of wisdom or inspiration would you like to leave with the listeners?

Yaya Cochran 

I would say for adults and even young adults. If you work in child development, or even in your family, try to create a world where children are able to show up as their most authentic selves. One of the things that I do is I make sure I affirm all children that are in my presence and people as well. But really create an environment where children know that they are protected, supported, and then also have the world at their fingertips through things that we can create for them.

Paul Meunier 

If you would like to share your passion for youth work, we'd love to spotlight you as a guest. If you have feedback about the show, please let us know. Just visit training.yipa.org, that's training.yipa.org and click on the podcast tab. This podcast is made possible in part due to a generous contribution from M Health Fairview. I'm your host Paul Meunier. Thanks for listening to The Passionate Youth Worker.