October marks the second month of Adobe Youth Voices’ partnership with Eastside Educational Trust. Last month, Miguel Salinas and I traveled to London to welcome the new organization into the AYV family, and make plans for training, outreach, and the 2012-13 program calendar.

Adobe Youth Voices chose Eastside Educational Trust as our newest partner because they have a proven track record in youth media, and are well connected in the arts education field in London. They are uniquely located in the “Silicon Valley” of London, Shoreditch, a working class turned hip/artist/industrial neighborhood with many start-up design and technology firms.

Eastside’s charge is to increase the participation in the next year by 20 educators (for a total of 35), strengthen external connections to the program, support innovative and outstanding teaching practices, host several super creative exhibitions of youth work, and to engage a very eager office of Adobe volunteers. If Rakhee Jasani, Executive Director of Eastside Educational Trust, looks a little and tired in the above photo, it’s because her to do list had turned into a book by the end of the week!

London is an exciting city for Adobe Youth Voices because of the thriving creative field, the many NGO’s and culture of social entrepreneurship, the thousands of talented youth, tech savvy educators, and a community-oriented Adobe office. For the past two years, AYV’s London partners have produced groundbreaking youth media, including Deaf Not Dumb in 2011 and Hoodforts in 2012. We are expecting even more great projects and impact in the year to come!