A Councilmember, a Vice Mayor, and Sixty Students: Youth Committee Meeting #1

The CompassPoint Youth Committee opened its 2026-27 season on Friday evening with about sixty students, their families, and two elected officials who came to tell them their work matters.

Councilmember David Cohen presents Certificates of Appreciation

The evening began with dinner and San José Councilmember David Cohen, who presented Certificates of Appreciation to students for their work over the past year.

A certificate from a councilmember is a small object. What it represents is not: a city government noticing that young people have done something worth recognising, and saying so to their faces, in front of their parents.

Vice Mayor Richard Mehlinger of Sunnyvale

Sunnyvale Vice Mayor Richard Mehlinger joined the speakers' hour alongside Min Zhou, mentor to the AI committee.

Two cities in one room, on one evening, for a committee run by teenagers. That is not a given, and it is worth naming.

The students spoke too

Four student presentations ran through the middle of the evening: Yufeng Chen; Olivia Xia and Kellyn Hu; Annie Yu; and Russell Wang — each presenting work from their own committee.

Then the committees got to work

After the speakers, students found their committees and did the thing the evening was really for: each committee presented what it wants to take on this year. Not what an adult assigned it. What they chose.

Those committees now span Aviation, Civic Engagement, Wellness, Robotics Outreach, Data Science & AI, Public Art, History & Culture, Sustainability and Performing Arts.

What comes next

Meeting #2 followed on October 4, and the committee meets monthly through May. Nine meetings across the year, each one a checkpoint where every committee reports what it has done and sets out what comes next.

The CompassPoint Youth Committee is invitation-based. Committee members and their families receive meeting details directly.

CompassPoint Mentorship is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, EIN 46-2389059.