Elevating youth voice and leadership is a core feature of high quality youth development programs, and the need to do so is more pressing now than ever as youth navigate an increasingly divided and inequitable society. Youth voice is about making youth feel heard and valued in your program. Research consistently shows that youth who know their voice matters in their program report greater sense of belonging and are more likely to participate in the program for longer. Taking it one step further, youth leadership is about uplifting youth as positive change agents. That is, youth leadership opportunities help expand young people’s possibilities and help them discover their sparks. A recent survey with more than 1,000 young people from more than 300 afterschool programs found that “acting in leadership roles” was ranked as the top meaningful experiences in their programs. While most youth development programs foster youth voice and leadership to some extent, what that looks like varies across programs. So, what are some actionable strategies for elevating youth voice and leadership in your program?
- Regularly seek youth feedback and take them seriously. It starts with listening. Show young people that their voice matters by regularly asking for and listening to their feedback. This could be done through casual check-ins, short exit tickets, or an anonymous suggestion box. Our Start-Stop-Continue activity is another example of simple ways to gather youth feedback. The key is to take youth feedback seriously by following through. If you apply youth feedback in making changes to your program, let the young people know and celebrate that. If you received youth feedback but it's not feasible to execute, keep youth informed and explain your constraints.
- Youth-centered programming. Let young people decide what your program should look and feel like. For example, ask them what topics they want to learn, where they want to go for field trips, who they want to invite as guest speakers, etc. Take it one step further, and co-design your program’s curriculum with youth. As youth development professional “Frankie” shares below, this is about sharing power with youth by letting their voices and ideas shape the program. Research shows that involving young people in program decision making is directly linked to greater motivation to attend.
- Set up a youth advisory team. Also called youth advisory committees, youth leadership teams, or youth councils, the essence of these leadership opportunities is about bringing youth to the decision making table, literally and metaphorically. Offer a range of ways for your youth advisory team to engage. Overwhelmed with ideas and suggestions to improve your program? Present the ideas to the youth advisory team and task them to prioritize by drawing upon their experiences in the program. Need to expand your program’s outreach and accessibility? Utilize the youth advisory team’s connections in their community and lean into the power of their peer networks. Overburdened with staff recruitment? Invite the youth advisory team into the hiring process; they know who can best serve them. The key here is to entrust youth with real (decision-making) power through leadership opportunities, rather than including their representation superficially. Consider offering financial or other forms of compensation to youth who serve on the advisory team in recognition of their time, contributions, and leadership. Check out resources like our Student Voice Toolkit and National Mentoring Resource Center’s Tips to Implement Youth Voice through a Youth Advisory Council for additional information and strategies to encourage and implement youth voice.
- Encourage peer mentorship. Finally, many youth development programs elevate youth voice and leadership by creating opportunities for youth to serve as role models and/or mentors for younger or newer youth. This also helps instill in youth a sense of responsibility and purpose. In fact, our work on youth social capital shows that youth are inspired to help others. So, design mentorship opportunities for youth to practice their leadership and pay it forward by leveraging the power of peers and near-peers.
“With any meeting that we have, we do group norms with the teens, and they're the ones that really come up with those and setting like agreements with the whole team... So it's not just the adults saying what can and can't be done, but they are holding themselves accountable for that. Also... they're the ones to really plan out the school year and telling us what it is that they're wanting to do.” – Frankie (youth development professional)
Elevating youth voice and leadership doesn’t need to be a daunting task. These four strategies offer guidance on getting started, but they are by no means prescriptive solutions. Much like our approach to building developmental relationships with young people, elevating youth voice and leadership requires care and adaptation to different contexts over time. What works for uplifting one group of youth’s voice might not be so responsive to another group, and that’s okay. The key is to be authentic and consistent.