“Opportunity does not always come knocking,” said James W., 18. “There are a lot of times when you have to go looking…When it does come, it will knock once and then leave. So, it’s not always that people don’t get opportunities, it’s that they are not looking, because they don’t know how.”

“I think opportunities a lot of times are based off of who you know and where you are,” said Alexandria G., 15. “In elementary school I was in a school that didn’t have as many resources and access to certain things…My new school is well-known, and a lot of people are looking to give us opportunities.”

In this video teens from Atlanta discuss who gets and who doesn’t get opportunities — and how quality youth development organizations play an important role in access to opportunity.

VOX ATL thanks our peer nonprofits in Atlanta, especially Future Foundation and 21st Century Leaders, for promoting the opportunity to teens to speak up. 

And special thanks to The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta for supporting storytelling about quality youth development!