Six Tips for Increasing Meaningful Youth Engagement in Programs

The YouthPower Youth Engagement Community of Practice defines meaningful youth engagement as a mutually respectful partnership between youth and adults, where power is shared, and young people's ideas, perspectives, and skills are integrated into program design and delivery. To achieve meaningful youth engagement, programs must have a clear vision for what youth engagement looks like. This vision should be co-created by supportive adults and youth themselves, and it should be based on a shared philosophy that values the mutually respectful relationship between youth and adults. Programs must also make specific opportunities available for youth to engage, and these opportunities should be allowed to expand over time. One key component of meaningful youth engagement is the recognition and empowerment of youth as experts in their own needs and priorities. This requires programs to shift their mindset and treat youth as partners rather than beneficiaries. Programs should also involve communities in promoting a safe space for young people to share their voice, and they should identify adults who are "youth champions" to set an example for other adults on how to respect youth input. Meaningful youth engagement also requires the intentional development of leadership skills and the empowerment of youth to have ownership of program goals and activities. This means including youth in decision-making processes, such as participation in executive boards, advisory boards, or everyday choices, and involving them in budgeting or other decisions that involve the allocation of resources. To be successful, engagement activities must make a difference or impact, and youth must feel like they have the power to influence a project's trajectory for the better. They should also allow youth to build their networks and grow their social capital by engaging with like-minded peers, caring adults, and other supportive individuals. Organizations committed to meaningful youth engagement must invest resources such as time, money, and staff. They must prioritize and receive sustainable, long-term commitment from organizational leadership and funders. This requires ensuring that the entire organization or at least key project staff knows how to create space for youth, how to look for meaningful opportunities to engage them, and how to turn decision-making power over to youth. Providing stipends, seed grants, or other resources for youth to implement their own action plans or projects can help transform skills development into leadership action. However, it is crucial to ensure that youth have the capacity to manage these new funds or assets for their best purpose. Projects should also prioritize funding and professionalization support for youth-led organizations when possible. Measuring the results of youth engagement is critical to understanding its impact and effectiveness. Programs should disaggregate program data by age and sex, and they should use illustrative indicators for inclusion in YouthPower's Positive Youth Development Measurement Toolkit. They should also develop mechanisms for training youth and youth researchers in how to measure results. Ultimately, meaningful youth engagement requires a sustained commitment to investing resources, time, and effort into empowering youth to take ownership of program goals and activities. By doing so, programs can create a positive and lasting impact on the lives of young people and their communities.