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Community Health Youth Cohort – 2025 YGPC Team Spotlight

Published by Kylee Sawyer on

2025 SCI Youth Grant Pitch Contest | Meet the Teams: Community Health Youth Cohort Team Goal: “To educate peers, gather community data, develop policy recommendations, and lead grassroots campaigns to reduce teen pregnancy and increase access to sexual health resources for Chelsea’s youth and immigrant families.”

Meet the Team! | Community Health Youth Cohort

2025 SCI Youth Grant Pitch Contest | Meet the Teams: Community Health Youth Cohort Team Goal: “To educate peers, gather community data, develop policy recommendations, and lead grassroots campaigns to reduce teen pregnancy and increase access to sexual health resources for Chelsea’s youth and immigrant families.”
  • Team Goal: Reduce teen pregnancy and increase access to sexual health resources for Chelsea’s youth and immigrant families.
  • Affiliation: La Colaborativa
  • Community: Chelsea, MA

Meet Community Health Youth Cohort, a 2025 Youth Grant Pitch Contest Youth Team, from La Colaborativa (Chelsea) and their two volunteer coaches, Lew Sabbag and John Madondo.

The Community Health Youth Cohort team plans to educate peers, gather community data, develop policy recommendations, and lead grassroots campaigns to reduce teen pregnancy and increase access to sexual health resources for Chelsea’s youth and immigrant families. Their goal is to empower youth in Chelsea to become leaders in advocating for improved healthcare access, sexual health education, and systemic change, addressing the unique challenges faced by immigrant and underserved communities.

Community Health Youth Cohort is a first-time team.

Their coach Lew Sabbag is the founder and owner of Publish Today Media. His mission is to enable business owners and marketing teams to communicate successfully and profitably with their target markets and clients using effective systems and processes. Lew is an entrepreneurial-minded business partner with over 40+ years of experience covering Start-ups, SMBs, Non-profits, and Fortune 500 clients.

Lew noted how his previous volunteering experience will help him as he supports the Pitch Contest. “I have been a Babson College Coaching (CLTP) volunteer for the past 25 years or so and I like the idea of helping the next generation get a head start and guidance to find the best path to success and accelerate the learning curve,” he shared.

Another coach for the team is John Madondo, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare Community & State of Massachusetts. He founded a home health business and primary care clinic and is trained as a Registered Nurse and Nurse Practitioner. John previously volunteered as a 2024 Pitch Coach for Inclusive Eats, a team that was awarded $1,700 for cultural cooking classes.

John shared his interest in supporting youth as they prepare for their professional careers. “I enjoy sharing and giving back some of my career experiences with youth who are aspiring to develop themselves as they prepare for their own careers in the future.”

2025 SCI Youth Grant Pitch Contest | Meet the Coaches: Lew Sabbag
2025 SCI Youth Grant Pitch Contest | Meet the Coaches: John Madondo

The goal of SCI’s Pitch Contest is to provide youth with the opportunity to decide how to strengthen their community while practicing valuable professional skills such as public speaking, project management, and community organizing. With the guidance and support of 2 volunteer Pitch Coaches, each youth team will develop their project ideas and be in the driver’s seat of positive change.

The Pitch program will culminate on April 5th, when SCI will host the in-person Pitch Event at the La Colaborativa where each team has the chance to receive up to $2,000 in grant funding. Media are invited to attend the Pitch Event. Funded youth teams will have until January 2026 to complete their respective projects and submit a project impact report.

This program is made possible by SCI’s sponsors, individual donors, and a Massachusetts state budget line item, thanks to the advocacy of State Senator Cindy Friedman. The 2025 SCI Youth Grant Pitch Contest is sponsored by Boston Bridges Initiative; The Boston Foundation; Winning Home, Inc.; M&T Bank; Berkshire Bank; Benefact4; and Kick It for a Cause. Major support for SCI youth programming is provided by Cummings Properties.

Categories: Civic EngagementCommunity ConnectionsVolunteer EngagementYGPCYouth Leadership
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