CalMatters Youth Journalism Initiative
CalMatters' Youth Journalism Initiative prepares California middle and high school students for journalism careers through in-person workshops, teacher training, and student opportunities like the JCal Student Reporter Summer Camp, which pairs a small cohort of California high schoolers with professional reporters for mentorship, legislator interviews, reporting projects, and newsroom field trips. The initiative, based at the nonprofit Sacramento newsroom CalMatters, also runs occasional video contests with cash prizes.
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Mosaic Journalism Workshop
Mosaic is a free youth journalism training program based at San Jose State University serving greater San Jose area high school and community college students. It runs an intensive two-week summer workshop covering reporting, writing, photography, videography, and podcasting, plus paid fall/spring internships and boot camps for student newspaper staff.
KALW Teen Podcasting Institute
KALW public radio's Teen Podcasting Institute is a paid summer fellowship where San Francisco Bay Area high school students learn reporting, interviewing, scriptwriting, and audio production to create episodes of 'tbh: by, about, and for teenagers,' a podcast broadcast on KALW. Fellows attend in-person workshops at KALW's San Francisco studio four days a week over six weeks and receive a stipend.
Youth Radio (YR Media)
Youth Radio is an Oakland, California nonprofit that trains young people ages 14-24 as journalists, podcast producers, and media makers, pairing them with professional editors to produce real published audio and media work. Relaunched in 2026 after a hiatus, the program requires no prior experience and centers youth voice on current events and culture.
Climate Corps Leadership Institute (Watsonville Wetlands Watch)
A year-long paid internship for Watsonville high school students that builds climate action leadership through hands-on watershed and wetland work. Interns gain experience in urban forestry, habitat restoration, community science monitoring, and climate justice advocacy in the Pajaro Valley, presented in partnership with local schools.
Enterprise for Youth: Job Readiness Training
A San Francisco nonprofit workshop series that prepares high school students for the workforce through interview practice, resume building, and workplace-readiness training; it serves as the entry point into Enterprise for Youth's paid internship placements, and students earn a completion stipend.
Foodwise Teens
A free youth development program from the San Francisco nonprofit Foodwise (formerly CUESA) that trains SFUSD high school students in sustainable food systems through three tracks: Seed (foundational after-school learning), Grow (teen-led projects), and Cultivate (paid summer job placements with mentorship in gardens, kitchens, and farmers markets).