When you enter the building of Roca, a youth development organization in Chelsea, Massachusetts, your senses come to life. Young people are sitting at the front desk, dancing in the adjacent studio, walking around with notebooks, talking to caseworkers...there is a palpable sense that the youth are comfortable here, and that they have the space and resources to make positive changes.

From the President: Community based programs do vital work in all sorts of challenging situations. Often, they find creative—even groundbreaking—ways to manage their daily work. By building connections among the people, ideas and actions of these groups, we can add value to their work and to the entire field. To do this, we need to look at who we are, what kinds of spaces we create, and how we build partnerships with both organizations and young people.

When members of Alaska Youth for Environmental Action (AYEA) decided to launch a statewide outreach and education program on global warming, they never expected that it would take them from the state capitol to the halls of Congress. This high school leadership program of the National Wildlife Federation has brought its message to communities across Alaska and to members of Congress. In the process it has strengthened and expanded its organizational capacity.

Amanda Dickerson, an active member of the board of a Livingston County, Kentucky non-profit organization called Champions Against Drugs, often carries a well-used copy of the Innovation Center’s Building Community tool kit in her back pack to school, “for meetings later on” and went out to buy new bookshelves, she says, to hold the other binders and notebooks – the tools of her activism, on her bedroom wall. “I don’t write in the toolkit,” she says, “because other folks might need to use it besides me.” But it’s full of sticky notes, different colors for different pages, marking ideas, quotes and exercises to which she often refers in her work.

Twenty one year old Zara Snapp began working at Mi Casa, a community youth organization in Denver, CO when she was fifteen. This summer she interned with the Innovation Center with support from the Center for Ethical Leadership. We spoke with Zara to learn what inspired her to a career in youth development.

The Innovation Center is looking to hire a full-time program specialist for training and field services. In addition, we are recruiting for one paid intern position in training and partnership services. The positions will be based in our Takoma Park, MD office. Click on the links above to read the job descriptions. To apply, please email your resume and cover letter to Trenny Jefferson ( tjefferson@theinnovationcenter.org ).

National Association of 4-H Extension Agents, October 22-26

International Leadership Association, November 2-5

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