According to their website, YAI was started and inspired by acclaimed youth activist Kimmie Weeks, a survivor of the First Liberian Civil War.
Also in 2007, Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf presented Kimmie with Liberia's highest honor by decorating him Knight Grand Commander in the Humane Order of African Redemption.
He is featured in the new book "Peace in Our Lifetime" as an international peacemaker, along with Nelson Mandela, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King Jr.
YAI focuses on post-war countries (Liberia, Sierra Leone, Uganda) that face the daily realities of hunger, and a lack of basic needs such as clean water, safe schools, parks and medical care.
YAI is governed by an independent, non-salaried board of directors Headquartered in Traverse City, Michigan, Youth Action International maintains field offices in three countries in Africa: Liberia, Sierra Leone and Uganda.