Youth Empowerments Finest

Who We Are

Youth Empowerment is a grassroots organization founded in 2015 by Arthur and Gabby Soriano.

Our Mission: To transform communities and increase public safety through community mentorship, building resilience, advocacy, and system transformation for high-needs individuals and families.

Our Vision: Historically oppressed and marginalized individuals and communities are healed and transformed.

Our Values: Youth Empowerment is recognized nationally as a leader in the Credible Messenger movement. We believe the power of lived-experience MENTORS is the greatest value we can provide to help our participants heal from trauma and become contributing members of their communities.

M - We Motivate individuals to be the best versions of themselves for themselves, their families, and their communities.

E - All programs promote Equity through Empowerment.

N - We meet the Needs of our participants, families and communities with services that demonstrate the value of love.

T - A Trauma-informed Care approach is necessary to achieve Trust.

O - We offer support and Opportunities to those who have been marginalized, oppressed and stigmatized

R - We teach and value Resilience in all individuals and work to build lived-experience leaders.

S - We are a Solutions-based organization that encourages and promotes Systemic Change to provide equity, diversity, and inclusion for all individuals.

YE provides mentorship and gang prevention programs for youth, families and the communities of City Heights and Southeast San Diego. We are leaders in the Credible Messenger movement and have received national recognition for our efforts. All mentors have lived experience in gangs, incarceration, criminal activities and substance use and use that lens to connect personally with their mentees. This movement has proven that those who have exited the justice system and transformed their lives are the most credible messengers when working with justice-impacted youth, adults, and families. 

History 

Arthur and Gabby were raised in City Heights, San Diego’s most diverse community with the highest rates of poverty and interpersonal violence. He understood the personal trauma and outside influences that led him to gang involvement and he realized he could use his experiences to guide others down a different path than the one he had taken. Arthur had been a leader on the streets and in prison and knew he could use these same skills to organize and influence others to do good for themselves, their families, and their community.

Arthur Soriano was released from prison at the age of 36 after a total of 23 years in the justice system for activities including attempted murder, gang leadership, drug dealing, and armed robbery. The love of his wife and the birth of their first child inspired him to find a way to help others avoid the mistakes he had made. 

Arthur began connecting with other former gang members he knew who were also looking to change their ways. In 2015, these grassroots beginnings became the model that would eventually become Youth Empowerment. He is now recognized by top law enforcement officials, probation, judges, school principals, and other human service nonprofits as an advocate for community change and an example that anyone can transform their life.

Transforming Trauma

There are conditions in our community that have caused trauma and cultivated systemic racism, racial disparities, and the overrepresentation of marginalized communities in incarceration. The mission of the Transforming Trauma program is to elevate healing while preventing further re-traumatization of all people through the systemic implementation of the Trauma Informed Care Code of Conduct (TICCC), especially for those closest to the pain – our service providers. Our goal is to train organizations and individuals who work with traumatized populations to utilize the Trauma Informed Care Code of Conduct during all interactions with this vulnerable population.  

The Transforming Trauma program consists of 8 training modules: 

Trauma Informed Care Code of Conduct

Trauma

Mentorship/Lived Experience

Community Engagement

Leadership

Substance Use

Organizational Culture