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Adam Roybal Receives Swanee Hunt Youth Leadership Award.

Adam Roybal is a musician, artist and youth mentor. Since the age of 12 in middle school he has used his interest in positive youth development and his musical ability to connect with and mentor young people. Recognizing his artistic abilities early on, he created his own in-home recording studio where he now produces and records original scores for videos and pop music CDs, all with a positive message. He opens his studio to young people interested in the music industry and uses the space to mentor youth, providing space for them to record music - with the caveat that only music with a positive message will be allowed.

In the Lake County School District, Adam worked with students to help develop Voices of Youth, a strength-based video capturing the strengths of the district's youth. He worked with young people from the district's schools to develop the lyrics and musical score that accompanied the video.

In addition, Adam has used his musical connection to mentor young people from Horace Mann Middle School and Cheltenham Elementary School. He has also worked with students at Pioneer Charter School and he is currently instructing an after school class at Sojourner Charter School in Boulder. Under his instruction, students at Horace Mann, Pioneer and Sojourner wrote and recorded their own songs and produced a CD.

Always at the forefront of youth engagement, Adam spearheaded part of the Youth Leadership Conference at the Colorado Statewide Parent Coalition's annual conference, and organized youth participants to develop a stage production focusing on youth issues. The production, entitled "Little Ricky," gives voice to youth expressing the risks they experience related to drugs and violence, and ends with strength-based messages to adults about solutions and ways adults can help them. Adam takes his "Little Ricky" presentation to schools, incorporating messages about dropout prevention and the strength of positive behavior. In addition, he has facilitated presentations at several conferences, including the 2001 Assets for Colorado Youth statewide conference in Denver.

Adam continues to combine his musical talent and passion for positive youth development to connect to youth and provide a positive role model to young people in Colorado.

Adam is a native of Denver, a graduate of Kennedy High School, and a graduate of the University of Colorado at Denver.