In this online panel discussion, the creators of UCLA CDA’s recently released youth-engagement guides discussed how funders and youth-serving organizations can invest in and build youth-engagement programs that help young people and those who work with them succeed.

Key Takeaways

Quality youth engagement programs can provide young people a sense of meaning and purpose, an opportunity to contribute in ways that make a difference, connections with mentors and other caring adults, and access to real-world learning experiences.

These experiences benefit youth now and can also create positive feedback loops that support civic participation and positive development into adulthood.

Developmental science can help organizations create more precise strategies to engage youth by increasing understanding of how not only age but lived experiences shape development.

Funders can play an important role in helping organizations build the capacity they need to either begin or grow their youth engagement work.

Effective youth engagement programs are intentionally designed to:

• Partner with youth as equals and ensure that they have a say in designing the programs and policies that serve them
• Affect real change in issues that matter to youth participants
• Include learning and hands-on experience that can help youth achieve their own personal goals
• Recognizing youth as whole people who may be dealing with issues outside of the program
• Compensate young people for their time to the extent possible for a given organization

Moderator:

• Adriana Galván, PhD, Co-Executive Director of UCLA CDA

Panelists:

• Beatriz Lopes, member, Youth National Scientific Council on Adolescence (YNSCA)
• Michael Nguyen, member, YNSCA
• Jeffrey Poirier, PhD, Associate Director, The Annie E. Casey Foundation
• Ahna Suleiman, DrPH, Coordinator, YNSCA

To learn more about how to engage youth effectively in evaluation within an organization, see our youth-engagement guides.