Boys & Girls Clubs of America Youth of the Year
Lead. Succeed. Inspire.
Donya Stanley
2023 Youth of the Year Winner
Congratulations to Olivet Club member and Junior Staff, Donya Stanley, who will represent Boys & Girls Clubs of the Corridor at the State of Iowa's Youth of the Year competition in Des Moines March 29th & 30th! Donya, a ten-year Club member, calls Boys & Girls Club her second home. When she first joined the Club, Donya struggled to properly communicate her feelings to others, modeling what she saw outside of Club. She attributes the SMART Girls (Skills Mastery and Resilience Training) program to instilling in her a better understanding of how to relate to others while remaining true to herself. She wholehearted believes that the relationships demonstrated for her at the Club will help break the cycle of negative relationships she knew and establish a strong foundation to build positive relationships as a young adult.
Congratulations to our Past Youth of the Year Winners!
1997 – Bobbiette Wachuku, Cedar Rapids Youth of the Year
2004 – Tiesha Walker, State of Iowa Youth of the Year
2005 – Taryn (Cronbaugh) Kurth, Cedar Rapids Youth of the Year
2006 – Stacey Walker, National Youth of the Year
2010 – Jeffrey Chambers, State of Iowa Youth of the Year
2011 – Jeffrey Chambers, State of Iowa Youth of the Year
2012 – Jeffrey Chambers, Cedar Rapids Youth of the Year
2013 – Jeffrey Chambers, State of Iowa Youth of the Year
2014 – Natalie Barnes, State of Iowa Youth of the Year
2015 – Mykala McGraw, State of Iowa Youth of the Year
2016 – Haley Anderson, Cedar Rapids Youth of the Year
2017 – Nicole Techau, Cedar Rapids Youth of the Year
2018 – Nicole Techau, Cedar Rapids Youth of the Year
2019 – Nicole Techau, Cedar Rapids Youth of the Year
2020 – Ryan Vondracek, Cedar Rapids Youth of the Year
National Youth of the Year Winner
We are proud to have one past Club member who was recognized as the National Youth of the Year! In 2006, Cedar Rapids Club Member, Stacey Walker, progressed through the local, state, and regional competitions to win the title of National Youth of the Year 2006-2007. Since being named National Youth of the Year, Stacey graduated from the University of Iowa with a degree in Political Science and worked for Steve Case, Chairperson of President Obama’s Council for Economic Competitiveness. Most recently, Stacey returned to Iowa and served as the first African American and youngest Chairperson of the Linn County Board of Supervisors through 2022.
