This model for community-based youth leadership development attempts to bridge a gap between theory and actual practice in leadership development for youth. This article presents these lessons:
For Nonprofits: This article makes a case for an asset-based, inclusive, model for helping youth develop positions of leadership appropriate to their own interests and sense of future. It’s a model that’s ready to incorporate into existing nonprofit structures with similar values.
For Grantmakers: Actual fundable models of youth leadership development are hard to come by. But here’s one!
For Activists: This model is based on valuing and promoting growth and learning, collaboration, inclusion, diversity, openness, creativity, flexibility, innovation, and harmony.
For Evaluators: Each participant in this model for community-based youth leadership development completes a written evaluation for the program. Evaluations would focus on the program’s usefulness, the relevance of information presented and suggestions for changes to increase relevance, and on ways in which participants might apply what they learned.