The Critical Role of Self-Awareness and Emotional Regulation in Youth Development

Empire Promise Youth Summit 2025:
Survivor – Inside Out

As we prepare to welcome students to the 2025 Empire Promise Youth Summit, we’re diving deep into a theme that hits close to home for so many young people: emotions. Inspired by the beloved Pixar film “Inside Out,” this year’s summit—Survivor: Inside Out—places emotional intelligence front and center, reminding us that learning to navigate our inner world is just as important as mastering the outer one.

Over three unforgettable days, students from across New York State will engage in interactive workshops, Survivor-style team challenges, and expressive activities that bring emotion to life. Our goal? To build lasting skills in self-awareness, emotional regulation, and resilience—tools that will serve them long after the final Tribal Council.

Why Emotional Intelligence Matters

We know that academic success is only one piece of the puzzle. For students to truly thrive—in school, in relationships, and in life—they need to develop the capacity to understand and manage their emotions.

Self-Awareness

Recognizing your own emotions is the first step in understanding how you think, act, and relate to others. When students learn to identify their feelings and the situations that trigger them, they gain insight into their behavior—and the power to change it.

Emotion Regulation

It’s one thing to feel; it’s another to know what to do with those feelings. Emotion regulation helps students pause before reacting, manage stress, and make thoughtful decisions. These are essential life skills that help them stay focused, resolve conflict, and lead with clarity and calm.

Social and Emotional Skill Building: The Liberty Way

At the Liberty Partnerships Program, social-emotional learning isn’t a side lesson—it’s embedded in everything we do. This summit continues our commitment to nurturing the whole student by focusing on key competencies:

• Empathy: Understanding others’ feelings builds deeper human connections and stronger communities.
• Communication: Sharing your thoughts and emotions respectfully is the foundation for every healthy relationship.
• Collaboration: Whether during a team challenge or classroom project, working together builds trust, creativity, and a sense of belonging.
• Problem-Solving: Real life is full of obstacles. We help students develop the tools to face them with courage and confidence.

Using Film to Make Emotions Relatable

Why Inside Out? Because sometimes a story is the best teacher. By giving names, colors, and personalities to emotions like Joy, Sadness, Fear, Anger, and Disgust, the film helps students understand the complexity of their own emotional lives. It shows that all emotions have a purpose—and that embracing them, not avoiding them, leads to healing, growth, and connection.

From Screen to Summit: Learning by Doing

Our workshops are anything but ordinary. Each one is themed around a core emotion and designed to help students explore it through movement, challenges, and meaningful conversation. From the Sadness Obstacle Course to the Anger Family Feud Face-Off to Joy’s Playground and beyond, students will engage in experiences that deepen their emotional insight while having fun and forming bonds.

By the end of the summit, they won’t just understand these emotions better—they’ll understand themselves better.

Looking Ahead with Hope

The Empire Promise Youth Summit is more than a conference. It’s a launchpad for growth, healing, and self-discovery. Through the lens of “Survivor: Inside Out,” we’re helping students see that their emotions aren’t something to control or ignore—they’re something to understand, honor, and use as fuel to move forward.
Because when young people learn to master their inner world, there’s no limit to what they can do in the outer one.