The second annual Action Mapping Project (AMP) Summit brought together students, educators, policymakers, and community leaders from across Pierce County to share, analyze, and activate youth-driven data about public spaces, infrastructure, and community well-being. The AMP Summit 2025 took place at Washington High School on May 16, 2025, and was organized by AMP founder Matt Kelley, Ph.D, a professor at the University of Washington Tacoma, and his team. The summit highlighted how AMP captured raw data along with youth voices to tell compelling stories and identify service gaps in the community.
Matt Kelley opened the summit by emphasizing the importance of turning individual youth stories into actionable data. AMP, he explained, is rooted in the belief that meaningful policy change starts with understanding lived experience. With over 10,000 survey responses collected from youth across Tacoma and Franklin Pierce School Districts, AMP is now positioned to shape conversations around infrastructure, mobility, and public space access for young people.
“The goal here is that we give every kid the opportunity to share, share with us what you love about your community, where you are, share with us the things that you’d love to see changed,” said Matt Kelley. “Share with us your dreams about your life so we can try to take those stories out and activate those in policy.”
Creating Compelling Maps of Youth Experiences
AMP works directly with students in classrooms, guiding them through surveys and mapping exercises. The surveys and maps created by youth have been made into an interactive digital map that shows the places they enjoy, areas they avoid, areas they feel safe in, and areas of improvement they hope to see in their neighborhoods. The project emphasizes the importance of listening to youth to catalyze positive change, as students identify common barriers such as unsafe sidewalks, lack of lighting, and poor mobility options in their community.
Through data visualization, AMP maps revealed areas of high comfort and friction in neighborhoods like Parkland and South Tacoma. Students shared not only where they feel they belong, but also where they encounter challenges like access to reliable public transportation, areas filled with litter, or lack of sidewalks — insights often overlooked in traditional data sets.
Key AMP Summit 2025 Findings
- 10,000+ student responses collected
- Over 7,500 youth mapped shared where they feel at ease when they play
- Up to 23% of Parkland youth report not going outside regularly compared to 19% of Tacoma youth
- Parkland youth identified Dawson Park, Tacoma Mall, and Parkland Town Center as places where they spend their time
- Bikes significantly expand youth activity zones, but access is unequal, and bike lanes are inconsistent
- Mobility maps highlighted key corridors and dangerous crossings that hinder safe travel
To help partners digest the robust data, AMP has created Field Notes to focus on a problem in a shareable one-page document. These condensed, visual briefs summarize youth insight on specific topics such as park use, mobility, access to bikes, and even perceptions of safety. These field notes have been shared with parks departments, public health officials, and city planners to inform equitable development.
Youth Perspectives on Their Neighborhoods
The AMP Summit 2025 featured everyday experiences in their neighborhoods, ranging from litter to infrastructure and ideas for improvement. Student organizations from Building a Better Community and We Want Our Own presented original projects that explored community identity, safety, and visions for future spaces. Themes included:
- Lack of safe, welcoming public spaces for youth
- A desire for community centers that reflect cultural diversity
- The impact of underfunded infrastructure on feelings of belonging
- Calls to build a Parkland youth-led organization
A common theme arose from concerns presented in the projects: youth voices are often gathered but rarely acted upon. Students expressed skepticism about whether their input leads to real change, citing past examples where decisions seemed pre-determined and where youth input was not sought after.
The central theme that youth voice is a powerful resource resonated throughout the AMP Summit 2025. Youth voices can be the fuel that shapes policy, improves the built environment, and sparks ideas for a more Child and Youth Centered Community. By centering the perspectives of young people, communities and cities can make meaningful long-term changes.
