Youth Engagement

Key Lessons Learned & Highlighted Strategies

Key Lesson #1: Cultivating youth leadership requires a balance of providing support and giving youth the opportunity to lead.

• The Warren and Knox County Community Coalitions in Ohio used a consensus method to help youth prioritize project areas, and assisted students in breaking larger concepts into smaller, manageable steps and activities to help set them on the path to achieving their goals.
• Sitka Community coalition members in Alaska supported skill-building by supporting youth in facilitating conversations on their key issues of concern with through role-playing, teaching them to train other youth, and therefore preparing them to undertake leadership activities independently.
• Youth Over Violence in Los Angeles emphasized the importance of trusting youth to lead: “Making sure that they know we trust them and what they’re doing [is key to their success].”

Key Lesson #2: To build connectedness and a sense of belonging, youth should be authentically engaged through meaningful relationships.

• Sitka Youth Leadership Committee members continued to participate in activities over time because of the strong sense of community that developed in their groups, saying that it felt different than other youth groups because there was no competition – that everyone had a voice and a place there.
• Adult staff at Peace Over Violence took every opportunity to demonstrate their respect for the youth and commitment to supporting them, showing up for meetings and underscoring their availability regularly. As a result, participating youth indicated that “there is at least one adult team member they feel connected to.” They also utilized structured team-building activities to foster a sense of connectedness among youth participants.
• Sitka staff balanced structured activities with time for fun, noting, “It’s work but it’s also fun and it’s relaxed and it’s a place for them to be themselves… There’s space to share and laugh and be silly and let your guard down and get to know each other.”

Key Lesson #3: Given the diversity of youth backgrounds and experiences with trauma, it is important to be attentive to their comfort level and sense of safety.

• The Los Angeles Community Coalition addressed different levels of comfort ranging from basic (how the room is physically set up to facilitate activities) to complex, less tangible considerations (checking in each day on how youth were feeling using a “feeling thermometer”).
• The Sitka Community Coalition intentionally focused on resilience – highlighting protective factors and building connectedness –noting that this approach generated more buy-in and changed the way participants thought about building community. Warren and Knox County Teen Councils echoed this approach, noting that it also increased youth’s motivation to share.
• In response to youth expressing concerns about being viewed negatively by their community, both the Los Angeles Community Coalition and the Cranston Community Coalition brought outside attention to the positive impact they are making – by inviting law enforcement and local reporters to engage in dialogue with the youth and learn about the ways they are making a difference.