ACT Now and the YMCA celebrate Lights On Afterschool in Chicago

On October 23, I had the opportunity to attend ACT Now’s Lights On Afterschool event in Chicago! Hosted in partnership with the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago, the event began with breakfast and mingling before the 100 or so guests were ushered into the event space for an informative and engaging presentation.

The presentation kicked off with a discussion about the importance of partnerships in the out-of-school time field. Susan Stanton, the Executive Director of ACT Now, and Adam Alonso, the President and CEO of the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago, spoke about the collaboration between their two organizations. Sarah Glavin also shared details about Amazon’s partnership with the YMCA and the vital role afterschool programs play in helping fill critical gaps in the workforce, particularly in STEM fields. To support this effort, Amazon grants “Amazon Future Engineer” scholarships to exceptional STEM students in minority communities. Selected students receive $40,000 to pursue higher education degrees in computer science and a paid summer internship at Amazon.

The ACT Now team then shared some findings from their 2025 “State of Afterschool in Illinois Brief,” which included data from the 2025 America After 3PM report released on October 15. Since 2020, the ratio of children waiting for a program to those enrolled in Illinois has improved from 4:1 to 3:1. Elizabeth Harnett, the primary driver of this brief, was proud to share that Illinois currently ranks seventh in the nation for afterschool program accessibility, news that was met with lots of enthusiastic applause from the audience.

Still, there was also acknowledgment that more work needs to be done. ACT Now aims to achieve Afterschool for All in Illinois by 2035, but there are still 856,853 children whose parents want them in an afterschool program who are not currently enrolled.

The presentation ended on a celebratory note with an awards ceremony! Gio Acosta and Milan Sanchala, members of ACT Now’s Youth Ambassador program, received OST Youth Advocate Awards. Gio, who accepted his award in person, thanked his program for helping him discover his dream career. “I really want to be an attorney, and these programs create a path to help me get there in the future,” he shared.

Representatives Theresa Mah and Aaron Ortiz and Senator Willie Preston were also present to receive their Legislative Advocate Awards. All three policymakers gave shoutouts to program workers, the “heroes in this field,” and reinforced that afterschool should be a right, not a privilege, for everyone in this state. “Afterschool is not just about education—it’s about prevention, opportunity, and inspiring kids to believe in their own potential,” Senator Preston stated.

No one brought down the house quite like Eric Werge, Executive Director of the Community Schools Initiative at the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago. Eric spoke passionately about the importance of ensuring that every student in the state has access to places where they feel safe, included, and connected, and can form new friendships, develop new skills, and be exposed to new experiences afterschool, now more than ever before.

“The recent funding losses that have hit countless programs, including our very own Community Schools Initiative, disproportionately impact our low-income communities and communities of color, the same communities that are being terrorized now,” he said. “We are all here today to help amplify those voices that we serve, demanding that they be heard and that these critical programs continue to be supported to the fullest extent possible.”

The event was a powerful reminder that keeping the lights on afterschool helps young people shine their brightest. Happy Lights On Afterschool!