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“We change the way foundations, youth organizations, and community groups do business. We don’t come in with preset ideas or programs. We nurture small organizations and bring innovative practices to funders and academics. It creates a powerful ripple effect.” — Wendy Wheeler, President, Innovation Center |
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In partnership with community organizations, the Innovation Center is exploring the link between civic activism and youth development. Our Youth Leadership for Development Initiative has already generated important new research, training, and tools on the link between civic engagement and activism as an effective youth development strategy. By consulting with, training, and supporting local civic activist organizations, we create opportunities for young leaders and youth workers to exchange ideas and strategies, and become better facilitators, program planners, and leaders. By organizing international exchanges, visits, and interactions, we create opportunities for young activists to make global connections. Our work strengthens the youth development profession by contributing research, documentation, and strategies for achieving youth development outcomes through civic activism. It strengthens the field of community development by engaging young people as assets with important contributions to make rather than viewing them as “risks.” ResourcesLink to resources below to explore civic engagement and activism. Tools for Implementation
Training Research
Listserves (Mailing Lists)
Articles
© 2007 Innovation Center for Community and Youth Development |
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Coalition for Asian Pacific American Youth (CAPAY), a youth-led organization in Boston, MA, mobilizes young people around Asian cultural pride and history to promote social and economic justice in Asian communities. The organization participated in the Innovation Center’s Youth Leadership for Development Initiative (YLDI) which brought together 16 grassroots organizations to share strategies, while exploring the youth development benefits of civic activism.
“Partnering with the Innovation Center gave us a really good opportunity to get some national recognition for our work,” says Sophia Kim, Coordinator of CAPAY. Her organization is entirely youth-led and youth-run by a core leadership team of 10-15 young people. “We run an 8-10 week Asian American Studies Workshop and do a lot of training for youth around public speaking and how to run a meeting,” explains Kim. “A lot of their learning comes from jumping in alongside more experienced youth and adults.”
As part of YLDI, CAPAY participated in Innovation Center-led learning exchanges where groups could share knowledge and experiences, and seek support for challenges. “Those learning exchanges are such a rare opportunity to learn from other groups that are doing extraordinary work,” recalls Kim, “and it was put together for us.”
Through their participation in YLDI, CAPAY obtained technical assistance and support for integrating documentation and evaluation into their work. “Evaluation was something we had always thought about but hadn’t known how to do for ourselves,” says Kim. “The Innovation Center showed us how to conduct an evaluation that would guide our approach.”
Kim’s hopes for CAPAY’s future include using the connections created through YLDI to build momentum with other youth organizations and communities of color, increasing the impact and reach of all their youth leadership and social justice efforts.
The enthusiastic participation of CAPAY and others in YLDI contributed to new Innovation Center research and tools (LINK resources) on the youth development benefits of integrating civic activism in youth development.
PROJECTS
Youth Leadership for Development Initiative (YLDI). In 1999, the Ford Foundation and the Innovation Center for Community and Youth Development set out to explore how young people benefit from involvement in civic activism and to discover new strategies and practices that youth development organizations can learn from the field of youth activism.
The Ford Foundation funded 12 United States community organizations to be part of a three-year learning collaborative. The Innovation Center managed the initiative, selected sites with the Ford Foundation, offered technical assistance, and convened learning events with grantees. Four international fellows from Kenya and South Africa also brought perspectives on youth development and activism from their countries and took new ideas and practices with them when they returned home.
A multi-year evaluation conducted by Social Policy Research Associates (SPR), documented the powerful impact of these organizations on the young people that participated and identified several practices that youth development organizations can learn from civic activism organizations.
