Become a Judge

Thank you for your interest in judging for us!

Two of our signature programs utilize volunteer judges to evaluate youth-created submissions centered on suicide prevention, mental health, and social justice. In evaluating youth-created entries, judges are asked to carefully consider the strength, safety, and positivity of each entry’s messaging.

The Directing Change Film Contest
Participation in the program prepares youth to recognize signs of distress and seek help for themselves or a friend while inviting them to share their own unique message about suicide prevention and mental health with their peers. PSAs created for the contest are also used to raise awareness as part of media campaigns and outreach across California. Judging takes place annually each March, with judges also receiving a recorded orientation to view before the process begins. Visit https://directingchangeca.org to learn more.

Hope & Justice Art and Film Contest
This program invites youth to express their thoughts and feelings around critical mental health topics, as well as social justice and current events through the creation of visual art, written works, short films, audio PSAs, original music, and more. Participants can submit entries to the theme of “Hope,” “Justice,” or in response to an educational monthly prompt centered on mental health. Judging takes place monthly throughout the school year. Visit https://hopeandjustice.art/contest/ to learn more.

Additional Info
All Youth Creating Change judging typically takes 2 hours or less per contest and is completed entirely online. Forms are accepted on a rolling basis throughout the year, and you can expect to hear more from us as the next judging window approaches.

Once your form is reviewed and approved by our team, you will be added to our Directing Change Film Contest judging list. If you would also like to judge for our Hope & Justice Art & Film Contests, please check the appropriate box below.

(Information collected on this form will not be shared with organizations or people not associated with Youth Creating Change. If you have any questions about judging, please email dori@youthcreatingchange.org)

Email*

Name*

First Last

Title (if applicable)

Preferred pronouns

Organization

Phone

Mailing Address

Street Address Address Line 2 City State / Province / Region ZIP / Postal Code

County you work or live in

Are you a youth (age 14-25)?*

Yes

Youth are welcome to judge our contests, but we need this information to ensure they are not assigned entries that may have been created by their peers. Additionally, youth cannot judge any contests to which they have also submitted an entry.

(If you are under 14 and interested in judging, please reach out to dori@youthcreatingchange.org before signing up.)

Do you work in a K-12 school?*

Yes

No, but I am a educator in another setting

Do you work in mental health?*

Yes

Are you judging for the first time?*

Yes

Please provide short (1-2) sentence bio describing your expertise and/or interest in judging for us.

Bios are listed on our website each year and may be edited by our team as needed. View examples here.

Do you also want to participate in Hope & Justice Art & Film Contest judging?*

Yes

Unlike our Directing Change Film Contest, which runs annually, Hope & Justice Art & Film Contests are offered monthly/intermittently throughout the school year. Youth also have the option to submit visual art, written works, original music and other artforms (in addition to short films).

Judges for this program are not required to participate every contest, but should be prepared to volunteer more time than those who only sign up for Directing Change.

This field is hidden when viewing the form

Are you interested in judging entries monthly as part of our Hope and Justice contest?*

Our monthly Hope & Justice category asks young people to express themselves and use their feelings and their voice to encourage purposeful action and to start conversations that matter – through art. Unlike our Annual Contest, a range of artforms – including visual art, written works, and original music – are submitted (in addition to films). Youth submit entries related to the themes of “Hope,” “Justice,” or a monthly prompt centered on mental health.

(Note: If you are a youth judge, you should only select ‘yes’ if you do not intend to submit any entries to Hope & Justice. Youth judges are also not permitted to assign scores to any entries created by any youth they know personally or who attend the same school.)

Yes

How did you first find out about this opportunity?*

L.A. Works

Idealist

Volunteer Match

Social Media/Other Online Ad

From Someone on the Youth Creating Change team

From a Friend or Family Member

Through My Workplace

Other

Do you speak any languages other than English? (Select all that apply.)

If you selected "Other," please specify.

Do you have a special interest in any of the following areas? (Select all that apply.)

If you selected "Other," please specify.

For our annual contest, youth submit films to a range of categories, which you can learn more about here. The Youth Creating Change team assigns judges to categories based on a number of factors, including contest need. However, if you do have a strong preference for and/or expertise particularly relevant to a specific category, our team will try to accommodate that. Please use the box below to note your category preference (if any) and/or to elaborate on your relevant experience.

Judge Sign-Up Form