Safe School Ambassadors

The Safe School Ambassadors (SSA) program has been developed over the past 11 years by Community Matters. The program incorporates established principles of youth development and prevention, as well as emerging research and field experience. The overall goal of the program is to harness the power of youth to improve the social-emotional climate of their school by reducing incidents of bullying, violence and other forms of peer mistreatment.

In the Safe School Ambassadors program, the socially influential opinion leaders of the diverse cliques and interest groups on a school campus are identified, recruited and selected via a precise process involving nominations by staff and students. Through their collective social networks, these Ambassadors have a large sphere of influence on the student population's behaviors, and thus on the climate of the school.

Accepted to the Portfolio: June 2015