CYC envisions an empowered Cordilleran youth and children fully exercising their rights and role as stewards of the future in a self-determined, culturally-diversed, and sustainable society.

CYC acts as a service and advocacy center empowering Cordilleran youth and children and strengthening multi-level unities with other democratic sectors to advance people’s rights and welfare.

The Cordillera Peoples’ Alliance (CPA) is a federation of indigenous peoples’ organizations, as well as sectoral organizations in the Cordillera region. It was founded on June 1984 by 27 organizations. Its founding was a crucial step towards uniting the Cordillera indigenous peoples in defense of their ancestral domain, in their struggle for self-determination, and in uniting with the rest of the Filipino People in the struggle for national freedom and genuine democracy.

In 1991, the CPA Youth Commission (CPA-YC) was established to provide services to the youth and student organizations by training youth leaders, publication of educational materials, and coordination of various activities of CPA-YC affiliated organizations.

In 1994, the CPA-YC was directly under the Commission on Organizaing of CPA, which is responsible in ensuring coordination of various efforts to strengthen people’s organizations, including those of the youth anf students.

The following years, the Youth Center developed and the needs for training and sevices, education and propaganda work increased. Its development called for a greater focus to sustain and strengthen the indigenous youth work, consequently necessitated to act independently from the CPA’s Commission on Organizing.

Thus, in 2005, the Cordillera Youth Center was established. In 2017, the institution formally changed its name to Cordilleran Youth Center.