An Emerging Model for Working with Youth

Year of production: 2003

Image is illustrative. Photo by Cori Rodriguez from Pexels

In “An Emerging Model for Working with Youth: Community Organizing + Youth Development = Youth Organizing,” LISTEN, Inc., a training and support organization, tackles the basics of youth organizing—origins, concepts, models, principles, and practices.
This paper outlines the essential elements of community organizing and youth engagement that are shaping the field of youth organizing.

In our discussion of community organizing, we examine the influence of traditional community organizing models and activist movements led by people of color, while our discussion of youth development is informed by the positive youth development framework articulated by Karen Pittman and the Forum for Youth Investment.

We offer a description of the guiding principles and benefits of the youth organizing approach, and we conclude with recommendations for sustaining the field of youth organizing.

Authors

Funders’ Collaborative on Youth Organizing (FCYO)

Founded in 2000, the Funders’ Collaborative on Youth Organizing (FCYO) is a dynamic collective of social justice funders and youth organizing practitioners dedicated to advancing youth organizing as a strategy for youth development and social change. FCYO’s mission is to bring funders and youth organizers together to ensure that young people have the resources, capacities and infrastructure they need to fight for a more just and democratic society.