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looked to other cities for examples and examined over 20 California cities' Youth Master Plans for ideas and direction. A core group of Youth Commissioners attended a National League of Cities (NLC) conference in Los Angeles in December 1999. At the NLC conference, several of the Youth Commissioners and staff coordinator participated in a brief clinic on youth and family engagement. This clinic fortified the Commissioners' interest and willingness to pursue this project. In September 2000, after a year of study and discussion, the Youth Commission made a commitment to pursue the master planning process and developed goals and a vision for the Project. The Youth Commission's early Vision Statement for the Youth Master Plan project was "...to enhance and enrich the general well ,being of the youth population in Thousand Oaks..." The Commission envisioned that the Youth Master Plan would serve as a set of "Guiding Principles" for local public, private and nonprofit entities to work together to serve the needs of youth in Thousand Oaks. The Youth Commission's intended outcomes for the Youth Master Plan included: Learning about the process of creating a Youth Master Plan ♦ Fostering community collaboration ♦ Providing an ability for the youth community to voice their needs and concerns ♦ Disseminating information and promoting awareness of existing agencies and organizations dealing with youth and their programs o Authoring and publishing a Youth Master Plan ♦ Distributing the Youth Master Plan to all agencies and organizations dealing with youth, including business associations, civic groups and service clubs s Coordinating future meetings with all vital agencies to focus on youth ♦ Achieving success in creating and implementing the Youth Master Plan Youth Master Plan Development Process In October 2001, Youth Commission presented a proposal to City Council and successfully obtained approval and funding to develop a Youth Master Plan. Commissioners Zach Elsea and Austen Zielinski were appointed by the Youth Commission to co-chair the Youth Master Plan project: Coachman -Moore & Associates consulting firm was engaged in May 2001 to facilitate the process. In August 2001, project Co -Chairs, Youth Commission Chair Andreas Meyer, Staff Coordinator Mina Layba, and Coachman -Moore & Associates met to formulate the ad hoc Youth Master Plan Committee. The Commission deemed it important to receive input from a broad base of youth groups and organizations. They wanted to involve a diverse and representative mixture of youth and adult participants throughout Thousand Oaks_ More than 50 youth and adults were invited to join the ad hoc Youth Master Plan Committee. Forty-two individuals and organizations accepted the invitation assuring a good cross-section of the City. is City of Thousand Oaks Youth MasterPlan July 2, 2002 172