Pathways to Supporting Youth Leaders in the Community

Youth Leadership Introduction

Youth aged 15-25 are the largest and fastest-growing population worldwide and want to be included in the processes and decisions that affect the future of their community (Malcolm et al., 2020). An active community youth can bring support and buy-in from others, engaging more community members. Youth leadership programs and dedicated adult supporters can create opportunities for impactful work in the community (Augsberger et al., 2019). The key for youth leaders in community programs is buy-in from local authorities, the relationships created (both peer and mentors), and the trust in their voices to be heard to identify local issues and propose solutions.  Augsberger et al. (2019) recommend including youth leaders in local decision-making processes, directing local budgets, identifying solutions for community challenges, and aiding in disaster and emergency response. The authors listed several benefits of supporting youth leaders in the community:

• Youth learn leadership, planning, and civic engagement skills.
• Youth develop a stronger sense of collective responsibility.
• Local organizations experience higher community engagement with a broader range of participants.
• Communities become healthier and more equitable.
• Communities develop innovative and creative solutions for local priorities.

Youth Leaders in Action

Community Governance

Foundation funding was crucial in equipping youth leadership programs in New Jersey with resources to encourage youths aged 14-21 to address health equity concerns in their community (Atkins et al., 2020). The Next Generation Community Leaders program is an initiative that provided funding to ten youth-serving organizations that hosted community-based youth projects that provided 11 months of training and mentoring and four weeks of project delivery over the summer. Each project had funding, including summer pay for youth, mentors, project development assistance, and community assets. From the first group of youth projects in the community, youths were able to address community challenges such as school absenteeism and improved food security for older adults in their community (Atkins et al., 2020). This experience connected and empowered a diverse group of youth leaders with civic engagement initiatives and interactions with elected representatives and other community-based organizations (Atkins et al., 2020).

High school students in Boston were empowered to join in the community decision-making process through Participatory Budgeting, a civic engagement process where municipalities redistribute resources for local community projects (Augsberger et al., 2019). In 2018, 85 students served on the Mayor's Youth Council and trained more youth aged 12-25 to identify city priorities. The youth council received $1 million to address identified needs and priorities through community projects  (Augsberger et al., 2019). The variety and creativity of community projects in Boston resulted from youth leaders intentionally targeting youth perceived as marginalized (such as homeless, LGBTQ+, undocumented and refugee, and court-involved youth) in the democratic processes (Augsberger et al., 2019).

Community Researchers

Youths can lead their communities by taking the lead in local research efforts, creating new knowledge of the area, and improving the quality of research (Malcolm et al., 2020). This was the case for youths in Northern Philadelphia who took part in a program called Youth as Researchers (YAR), which involved understanding police and community relations. Youth interviewed police officers and surveyed community residents to highlight experiences from multiple perspectives (Malcolm et al., 2020). Trained and supported by university researchers and mentored by a filmmaker and members of local organizations, these youth created a documentary about their findings that was presented to the police commissioner, policymakers, university researchers, and community organizations (Malcolm et al., 2020).

Community Disaster and Emergency Response

Youth are often at higher risk during disasters and can be left out of decision-making regarding local disaster risk reduction (DRR) planning (Pickering et al., 2022). One Canadian community integrated youths and helped them become community leaders in DRR. These youths were trained and sent out with cameras (cell phones) to document areas of importance in their community (Pickering et al., 2022). Based on the themes in the photos taken, researchers and youths created an interactive youth-led workshop hosted in collaboration with the Canadian Red Cross at The International Disaster and Resilience Summit 2021(Pickering et al., 2022). In addition to supporting local DRR planning and presenting at an academic conference, youth in this project was also able to connect their work with other youth-led community organizations, expanding their network and that of the Canadian Red Cross (Pickering et al., 2022).

Engaging youth in planning local emergency response impacts the youth community. Youths incorporated into emergency response preparations in rural Israel were able to bring technology support solutions, respond to part of the community faster than trained adults who were less familiar with the area, act as translators, and lead other youths in the area to take collective responsibility (Billig, 2019). This emergency response program increased youth self-efficacy, improved local response operations, and empowered the community (Billig, 2019).

Pairing youth leaders with mentors provides more meaningful opportunities to contribute to the local community.

Integrating Youth Leaders in the Community

• Commit funding for projects (compensate youth leaders for their work time)
• Pair youth leaders with mentors.
• Encourage impactful projects that solve problems for youth and the community.
• Invest in long-term projects (up to 1 year).
• Set clear deadlines.
• Integrate creative tools such as visual storytelling on social media to help youth connect with peers, their community, broader issues, and other global youth leaders.

Resources

Atkins, R. L., Hart, D., & Altman, S. (2020). Next generation community leaders initiative: Collaborating with youth to develop leaders and healthier communities. Journal of Youth Development, 15(5), 146–158.

Augsberger, A., Gecker, W., & Collins, M. E. (2019). "We make a direct impact on people’s lives": Youth empowerment in the context of a youth-led participatory budgeting project. Journal of Community Psychology, 47(3), 462–476.

Billig, M. (2019). Incorporating volunteer youth in emergency teams: The effect of the cognitive-emotional spiral. Cogent Psychology, 6(1).

Malcolm, J., Brennan, M., Webster, N., & Dolan, P. (2020). Beyond Participation: A Case Study of Youth As Researchers and Community Development in North Philadelphia. Community Development, 51(5), 703–720.

Pickering, C. J., Al-Baldawi, Z., Amany, R. A., McVean, L., Adan, M., Baker, L., Al-Baldawi, Z., & O’Sullivan, T. (2022). Photovoice and Instagram as Strategies for Youth Engagement in Disaster Risk Reduction. Qualitative Health Research.