The application period for the 2025 programs is closed.
Please check back in the fall to apply for 2026.

The Opportunities

See leadership on display in Washington, D.C. -- Each year, GVP selects one high school junior or senior to attend the Electric Cooperative Youth Tour, an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C. This trip allows students to gain a personal understanding of American history and travel with over 1,800 students from rural communities across the nation. Students embark on an eight-day adventure around Washington, D.C., and visit iconic locations, including Arlington National Cemetery, Lincoln Memorial, Kennedy Center, and much more! This year's trip will occur June 16-22, 2025. Read the 2025 Youth Tour brochure.

Learn leadership skills in the outdoors -- Two students will also attend the Colorado Electric Education Institute’s Cooperative Youth Leadership Camp (CYLC) in Clark, Colorado, just outside Steamboat Springs. Here they will join approximately 90 students from Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Wyoming to improve their leadership skills, set up and operate a cooperative, participate in legislative forums, and enjoy some classic Colorado activities like rafting and touring the Trapper Mine. The Cooperative Youth Leadership Camp will be held July 12-17, 2025. Read the 2025 Leadership Camp brochure.

Youth Program Information

The Cooperative Leadership Camp is an all-expense-paid trip to Clark, Colorado, located near Steamboat Springs. High school juniors and seniors from Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Wyoming will gather at a beautiful resort located along the Elk River and spend the week at an outstanding Leadership Camp. You’ll participate in activities to improve personal goals, set up and run your own cooperative, and get an inside view of the state and national legislatures. There is plenty of time spent rafting the Colorado River, hiking to Fish Creek Falls, riding the gondola to Mt. Werner and enjoying banquets, BBQs, dancing and more. Many attendees call this camp a “life-changing” experience. The Cooperative Leadership Camp will be held July 12-17, 2025. 

If you’re a high school junior or senior whose family gets its electricity from Grand Valley Power, if you’re smart or have big dreams of seeing the country, if you like history or want to shake hands with your congressional representative, if you enjoy traveling and meeting new people, then the Washington D.C. Youth Tour is for you. 

Candidates compete for a spot in the Washington D.C. Youth Tour, a week-long, all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C., sponsored by Grand Valley Power and organized by the Colorado Rural Electric Association, the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association and the Colorado Electric Educational Institute. The Washington D.C. Youth Tour is scheduled for June 16-22, 2025. 

Eligible applicants must be: 

1. High school students* at least 16 years of age on or before the selected trip AND  

2. Dependents of parents or guardians who are members of Grand Valley Power.

*You must be attending high school at the time of application. If you will graduate during the spring of 2025, you are still eligible to attend camp. 

Complete the Leadership Camp Application by online submission (see below).

Submit a typed essay (minimum length of 500 words) covering the following questions: 

  1. Why do you want to attend the Youth Leadership Camp?
  2. What are some of your hobbies, extracurricular activities, volunteer experiences or academic achievements that you would like us to know about?
  3. What do you hope to gain from this experience? 

Send us your completed application and essay by January 6, 2025 either by online submission (by midnight) or by dropping it off at our main office (by 5 p.m.). We will also accept emailed applications and essays at youthprograms@gvp.org if submitted by midnight. 

Send us your completed application and essay by January 6, 2025 either by online submission (by midnight) or by dropping it off at our main office (by 5 p.m.). We will also accept emailed applications and essays at youthprograms@gvp.org if submitted by midnight.  Winners will be selected by the board of directors community committee and contacted by January 31, 2025.

Applicants will be judged on how the required questions were answered, overall content and grammar. 

Cooperative Youth Leadership Camp