Over 1,500 students from all across America take part in the Youth Tour experience each year, and so can you! Travel to Washington, D.C., where you will meet your United States Representative and Senators. This unique trip will give you the opportunity to watch history come alive as you explore the museums, memorials and monuments with students from your state. You will meet student leaders from nearly every state and hear dynamic leaders on Youth Day. Bottom line, you will make friendships that will last a lifetime and be part of a group that has over 50,000 alumni in every walk of life including U.S. Senators and CEOs.

Each state's delegation chooses a student representative for NRECA's Youth Leadership Council (YLC). The YLC is introduced on stage as part of the Youth Day program. YLC members come back to Washington, D.C. in July for a leadership workshop that will focus on the electric cooperative industry. YLC members will also be part of NRECA's Annual Meeting the following spring. Become a member of the YLC and you will be more poised, confident, and a better developed leader with a strong determination to improve your community and make our country a better place!

Rural electric cooperatives were created in the 1930s when President Franklin D. Roosevelt founded the Rural Electrification Administration.  Thanks to the Rural Electrification Act, those brave farmers and ranchers took it upon themselves to create their own member-owned utilities called cooperatives. This can-do spirit combined with the mission of giving back to the community is why electric cooperatives sponsor high school juniors and seniors on a weeklong, expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C.  Every electric cooperative has a different Youth Tour selection process.  To find out how to be part of Youth Tour, contact your local cooperative.