Youth leadership is the practice of teens exercising authority over themselves or others. [1]
Youth leadership has been elaborated upon as a theory of youth development in which young people gain skills and knowledge necessary to lead civic engagement, education reform and community organizing activities. Countless programs around the world seek to teach young people particular skills associated with leadership, particularly those programs associate with youth voice or youth empowerment. According to the study, it should increase the capacity of both individuals and communities. [1] [2]
Models of youth leadership focus on several aspects, including youth voice, youth empowerment and youth engagement for young people of color, low-income youth and youth of other diverse identities and abilities. [3]
Mercy Corps is a global non-governmental, humanitarian aid organization operating in transitional contexts that have undergone, or have been undergoing, various forms of economic, environmental, social and political instabilities. The organization claims to have assisted more than 220 million people survive humanitarian conflicts, seek improvements in livelihoods, and deliver durable development to their communities.
Youth empowerment is a process where children and young people are encouraged to take charge of their lives. They do this by addressing their situation and then take action in order to improve their access to resources and transform their consciousness through their beliefs, values, and attitudes. Youth empowerment aims to improve quality of life. Youth empowerment is achieved through participation in youth empowerment programs. However scholars argue that children's rights implementation should go beyond learning about formal rights and procedures to give birth to a concrete experience of rights. There are numerous models that youth empowerment programs use that help youth achieve empowerment. A variety of youth empowerment initiatives are underway around the world. These programs can be through non-profit organizations, government organizations, schools or private organizations.
Youth voice refers to the distinct ideas, opinions, attitudes, knowledge, and actions of young people as a collective body. The term youth voice often groups together a diversity of perspectives and experiences, regardless of backgrounds, identities, and cultural differences. It is frequently associated with the successful application of a variety of youth development activities, including service learning, youth research, and leadership training. Additional research has shown that engaging youth voice is an essential element of effective organizational development among community and youth-serving organizations.
Positive youth development (PYD) programs are designed to optimize youth developmental progress. This is sought through a positivistic approach that emphasizes the inherent potential, strengths, and capabilities youth hold. PYD differs from other approaches within youth development work in that it rejects an emphasis on trying to correct what is considered wrong with children's behavior or development, renouncing a problem-oriented lens. Instead, it seeks to cultivate various personal assets and external contexts known to be important to human development.
Civic engagement or civic participation is any individual or group activity addressing issues of public concern. Civic engagement includes communities working together or individuals working alone in both political and non-political actions to protect public values or make a change in a community. The goal of civic engagement is to address public concerns and promote the quality of the community.
Molly Melching is the founder and Creative Director of the Tostan Community Empowerment Program (CEP). Tostan is a non-governmental organization (NGO) headquartered in Dakar, Senegal whose mission is to empower African communities to bring about sustainable development and positive social transformation based on respect for human rights. Her website, Tostan.org, states "Tostan implements a holistic, three-year empowering education program in African national languages that has engaged over 3,500 rural communities in eight African countries on themes of democracy, human rights, health, literacy, and project management skills". These themes include the abandonment of female genital cutting, the abolishment of child/forced marriage, and female empowerment in leadership positions such as leadership positions in countries across West and East Africa.
Youth-adult partnership is a conscious relationship that establishes and sustains intergenerational equity between young people and adults. Youth-adult partnerships often display a high degree of youth rights and autonomy, and is often synonymous with meaningful youth participation. Typically seen with adults acting in a mentor capacity, providing scaffolding to the youth. Unlike traditional mentoring, youth-adult partnerships are categorized by multiple adults and multiple youth and there must also be a mutuality where adults and youth teach and learn from one another, working together in their community.
Citizen Corps is a program under the Department of Homeland Security that provides training for the population of the United States to assist in the recovery after a disaster or terrorist attack. Each local Citizen Corps Council partners with organizations, volunteers and businesses to organize responders, volunteers and professional first responders for an efficient response so efforts are not wasted by being duplicated. By training in Incident Command, volunteers know whom to report to and how the incident is organized. This prevents sites from being inundated by untrained and unprepared personnel preventing operation. Citizen Corps also works in conjunction with the Corporation for National and Community Service in promoting national service opportunities for promoting homeland security needs.
The following is a list of youth topics.
Tostan is a US-registered 501(c)(3) international non-governmental organization headquartered in Dakar, Senegal. The organization's mission is "to empower communities to develop and achieve their vision for the future and inspire large-scale movements leading to dignity for all" in several West African countries, including Senegal, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, The Gambia, Mali, and Mauritania.
Youth philanthropy is the donation of time, energy or resources, including money, by children and youth towards philanthropic causes. According to one study, "youth philanthropy is, at the broadest level, youth giving of their time, talents and treasure." It is seen as an effective means in which youth develop knowledge of and participate in philanthropic projects such as volunteering, grant writing, and community service.
Barry N. Checkoway is Arthur Dunham Collegiate Professor Emeritus of Social Work and Professor Emeritus of Urban Planning at the University of Michigan School of Social Work. Checkoway is internationally renowned for his contributions to the field of youth studies, particularly focusing on community youth development. He is a past recipient of the University of Michigan's Regents' Award for Distinguished Public Service.
Youth engagement is the sentiment young people feel towards a particular person, activity, place or outcome. It has been a focus of youth development, public policy and social change movements for at least forty years. According to a Cornell University program, "Youth engagement is one of the buzzwords in the youth development field. Similar terms are youth voice, youth involvement, youth participation, and youth in governance."
JAAGO Foundation is a non-profit organisation based in Bangladesh dedicated to providing quality education and social development opportunities to underprivileged children and communities. Established in April 2007 by Korvi Rakshand, the foundation has become a leading force in addressing issues related to education, poverty alleviation, and youth empowerment in the country.
Girls Action Foundation provides funds and training to over 100 girls’ programs in communities across Canada. It also offers programs, research and support to a network of over 300 partnering organizations and projects, reaching over 60,000 Canadian girls and young women annually, particularly in under-represented communities including Northern, racialised, low-income, Aboriginal and immigrant communities.
Feminism in Thailand is perpetuated by many of the same traditional feminist theory foundations, though Thai feminism is facilitated through a medium of social movement activist groups within Thailand's illiberal democracy. The Thai State claims to function as a civil society with an intersectionality between gender inequality and activism in its political spheres.
Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation (MEAF) was established in 1991 by Mitsubishi Electric Corporation of Japan and the Mitsubishi Electric US group companies, which manufacture, market and distribute a wide range of consumer, industrial, commercial and professional electronics products. Based in the Washington D.C. area, MEAF works to make societal changes by investing in innovative strategies to empower youth with disabilities to lead productive lives. The Foundation supports national grant programs and employee volunteer programs across the United States. Since its inception, the Foundation has contributed more than $9 million to organizations assisting young people with disabilities.
The Uganda National Entrepreneurship Development Institute (UNEDI) is a privately owned national resource development institution in Uganda whose focus area is entrepreneurship education, training and research. The institute provides training techniques, faculty support, consultancy, research as well as teaching and development of entrepreneurship training materials.
Eyitayo Ogunmola is a Nigerian tech entrepreneur and an international speaker who started Utiva, a global talent development company that has helped over 45,000 Africans learn technology skills and supported major startups and enterprises to hire talents among Africans and Minorities.