Youth Link University

Class Schedule 2025-2026

Program Overview

Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026 through Tuesday June 2, 2026 from 5-7 pm

@ Crossroads Community Center (Community Room)

Program Timeline

September - December: Marketing, Recruitment & Selection

(Sept-Nov): Outreach

(Nov-Dec): Interviews/Selection

Detailed Class Schedule

January 6

Orientation & Welcome Dinner

5:00 - Opening – Land Acknowledgement

5:05 - Welcome – City Manager/Council liaison/Parks Director (TBD)

5:15 - Gracious Space Activity

5:30 - Overview (YLU youth chair, YL staff)

  • Program goals, schedule, expectations
  • Thank you - Sponsors

5:40 - Dinner w/ table prompts

6:30 - 1-1 Questions

7:00 - Dismissal

Activity: Meet & Greet; Explore Identity, Culture, and Your Why

January 20

Lecture Topic: Business 101 (Form, Structure, Operation)

Activity: Team Formation & Team Project Assignment

February 3

Lecture Topic: Business Finance (Cost, Profit, Loss)

Activity: TBD

February 10

Lecture Topic: Marketing (Digital, Social Media)

Activity: TBD

March 3

Lecture Topic: Project Management

Activity: TBD

March 17

Lecture Topic: Product Development

Activity: TBD

March 31

Lecture Topic: TBD

Activity: TBD

(Adjusted schedule due to Spring break)

April 21

Lecture Topic: TBD

Activity: TBD

May 5

Final Project Prep

May 19

Final Project Presentation

June 2

Graduation!

Special YLU Speaker Series

Bellevue City Hall – Council Chambers (TBD) from 6:00 – 8:00 pm

Thursday, October 30, 2025

Cecilia Aragon

Innovative research, and a stint at NASA designing software for Mars missions, led President Obama to call her "one of the top scientists and engineers" in the United States.

When I was a child, a teacher said, "Why are you working so hard in math? You should be getting a boyfriend." And, as a first-generation Latina whose parents spoke with thick accents, I was always placed in the slow reading groups in school. Even though I loved math and science, I internalized others' expectations of me and began to believe that I wasn't smart enough to do scientific research. I was afraid of failure, so I dropped out of school.

Link to her bio

Thursday, January 29, 2026

Luis Poggi

Youtube Star for Singing in Venezuela; was VP of Product for Zillow

Currently CEO and Founder of AI Startup Company

Harvard Graduate; very active helping minority students - Cristo Rey school

LinkedIn Profile

Thursday, April 30, 2026

Tanji Johnson

Fitness Body Building Champion; Military Vet

Many talks - When Failure is Winning; Empower your inner champion

Biography

Thursday, June 25, 2026

Nigel Storey

CTO of Zappos; VP of Operations J&J

He is based out of Vegas

LinkedIn Profile
I'm interested!