Our Stories

IC Trainer Helps Expand Role of Youth throughout Missouri
Innovation Center trainer Steve Henness is Program Coordinator for the 4-H/Community Youth Development VISTA Program, an AmeriCorps*VISTA program in association with the University of Missouri Extension Program. Working with youth trainers, Steve trains communities to use the Innovation Center's Building Community tool kit to engage youth and adults. (More)

Community Group Builds Local Relationships to Help Troubled Youth
At Roca, a youth development organization in Chelsea, Massachusetts, one of the organizational mantras is “we’re running relationships, not programs.” Drawing on its eighteen year history, the staff has developed effective strategies for reaching vulnerable youth and functioning in a community responsibly. (More)

Youth Offer Fresh Perspective to Corporate Philanthropy
Time Warner's Office of Corporate Responsibility created a youth advisory board to provide input on its youth-focused grantmaking strategies. The advisory group includes approximately eight teens who consult with staff on grantmaking, planning and program development.  Their story highlights a successful youth-adult partnership embedded within a corporation.  (More)

Youth Leaders Reach Out, Make Difference on Global Warming
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 to the halls of Congress.  (More)

Foundation Funded Initiative Uses Youth-Adult Partnerships to Create Positive Change
When the W.K. Kellogg Foundation wanted to explore connections between youth-adult partnership and collective leadership, they tapped the Innovation Center to help guide the process. This exploration was part of a major foundation initiative-- Kellogg Leadership for Community Change (KLCC). (More)