From the 2018 - 2019 ACI convened a collective of six youth Queer, Trans, 2-Spirit, Disabled, Black, Indigenous, and people of color (QT2SDBIPOC) arts leaders, self-named the Youth United Artists (YUA).

A paid creative youth arts program, The YUA met once a week in addition to participating in a two-week long Training Institute and week-long Spring Research Intensive. The program follows a Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) process, understanding that youth are experts of their own lives and powerful agents of social change. YUA members conducted research about social issues affecting their own communities in order to engage in advocacy.

The 2019 Youth United Artists Cohort presented their work at the 2019 Arts Equity Summit, engaging in a cross-generational and cross-sector dialogue.