Edward DeJesus will join Youth Advocate Programs (YAP®), Inc. in Philadelphia Nov. 6, 2025, as a panelist at the nonprofit’s 50th Anniversary YAP® Making Change Happen Summit. DeJesus is a pioneer in working with systems involved individuals, people with intellectual/developmental disabilities, and others who face employment barriers with tools to build, nurture, and use their social capital to find meaningful work. He created the Social Capital Builders Institute where his work to connect empowered young people, service providers and employers to advance his vision of having “no more disconnected youth.”
DeJesus is an Affiliate Consultant and Social Capital & Youth Workforce Development Advisor. He is a legendary educator whose rallying cry, “Alive and Free,” has empowered hundreds of thousands of youth and young adults to find economic success.
YAP® is a national nonprofit that partners with government systems to deliver community-based individual and family services as an alternative to residential care and incarceration. The organization also applies its evidence-based YAPWrap® services guiding principles in its community safety work to help cities curb neighborhood violence.
Learn more about YAP® and register for the summit at www.yapinc.org.
