What is IVY?

IVY is a framework for youth to explore what it means to be present on their planet.  This means understanding the people who share this planet with us. The current socio-political conversation in our world screams divisiveness and separation.  Concerned youth of today are challenged by the seemingly insurmountable task of healing a divided world.

IVY provides community and a safe place for youth to explore life’s questions and find answers that fit their personal needs.

IVY provides youth with opportunities to establish real communication and connection with people from a variety of faith traditions through respectful dialogue and the exploration of our various belief systems through experiential learning.

IVY is not about changing others’ beliefs, it is about understanding them.  It is an opportunity for youth to make a difference and effect real change in the world around them.

IVY is a path for youth toward deepening their chosen faith to the point at which connections, similarities, links to other and all spiritual traditions become evident and more significant than surface differences.

IVY is a framework for marshalling the voices of the great spiritual teachers and allowing them to speak meaningfully to youth.  Spiritual masters from ancient to modern times have spoken of the transcendent power and value of loving one another; a message sorely needed in our present times.

IVY is an entirely voluntary program for committed youth.  It is about empowering youth to make choices, to shift their locus of control from external to internal.  It is based on our experience that many youth of today are spiritually, emotionally, and intellectually more advanced than many adults; that they are able to reach out with an eager willingness and enthusiasm to embrace those who think differently than they do; that they are able to live the values of social justice and love that many adults find it difficult to enact in their own lives.