Maine Youth Action Network

Youth-Adult Partnership

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If you do not find what you are looking for, please contact MYAN so we can offer further support. We also suggest you check out the Youth Leadership & Youth Development resource page for many other relevent resources.

MYAN will be out & about in Maine again this year offering our Partnering for Change training to help youth & adults gain and improve their skills for working together!
Visit the events calendar page for dates & locations.

MYAN believes in the power of youth and adults working together to create positive change. We believe when everyone's voices and perspectives are heard, the result is stronger relationships, more effective groups and more successful results. We hope the resources below will help you develop a deeper understanding of and respect for youth and adult partnerships--why they are important, how to create them, how to recognize and overcome barriers and ultimately how to change your world together.

Topics on this page (click to jump to that section)
Why Are Youth & Adult Partnerships Important?
Where Do You Want to Be & Where Are You Now?
Working Together--Tips & Tools (including topics such as working together on boards, teambuilders & icebreakers, and decision-making)
Barriers 
Expanding Your Horizons (inspirations & additional web resources)


WHY ARE YOUTH & ADULT PARTNERSHIPS IMPORTANT? 
Youth and adult partnerships can take extra effort and time, so why do it? There are lots of great reasons why working together can be beneficial to the individuals in the group and to the community as a whole. As you begin to explore this topic, take some time to read the following resources about why these partnerships are important.
  • Youth Leading Now! (Community Partnerships for Youth Journal, Summer 1999)
    Describes the growing movement to engage youth in decision-making.

    • Why are they important to you? You believe in youth and adult partnership. You want to hear each other's voices and perspectives and work together...in theory. So how does that apply to you specifically? A good place to begin is to establish what the people in your group--in the room with you--believe about youth and adults working together. Establishing shared values and vision are an essential step when working together.

    WHERE DO YOU WANT TO BE & WHERE ARE YOU NOW?
    If you've already established why youth & adult partnerships are valuable in general, and have taken the time to understand what that looks like to you and your group specifically, it's time to assess how you're doing so far. How does what you're doing now compare to your vision? In other words, it's time for some honest reflection about your self, your group, and/or your organization to see how well you're walking the talk.     WORKING TOGETHER
    You've got shared values, shared vision, a sense of where you are now and where you want to be...so how do you get there? Each group will work together differently and have different goals--and within a group these may change over time--but following are some general tips and tools for how to work together effectively and have authentic youth involvement.

    Guides & Toolkits

    Activities & Teambuilding

    Working Together On Boards

    BARRIERS
    At some point, every group encounters conflict. That conflict might be internal (personal differences, work styles) or external (funding, town committees). Youth and adult partnerships face some additional challenges--accomodating work and school schedules, transportation needs, experience levels, and perceived and actual power. You can not avoid conflict, but you can take steps to minimize it, and to plan for what to do when it arises. Most importantly, if you do your best to establish a common commitment to the importance of working together, you will have the bigger picture vision to get you through the tough times.     EXPANDING YOUR HORIZONS
    All around us there are youth and adults working together--it's not a new concept. There is, however, new vision for youth and adult partnership and the extent to which adults can support youth to have meaningful roles in decision-making. MYAN is not alone in its commitment to this value. There are organizations throughout the country and around the world that are researching and practicing how & why youth and adults can and should partner. As you continue on your path of practicing and promoting youth and adult partnership, we suggest reading about the organizations below and exploring the resources they have to offer. 

    Also, we suggest you check out our Youth Leadership & Youth Development resource page for many other relevent resources, including inspiring stories of youth leadership.

    WEB RESOURCES

    Academy for Educational Development
    www.aed.org
    The Academy for Educational Development (AED) integrates policy, advocacy, and hands-on service to implement solutions to social problems and create change in the United States and developing countries. It has projects in the fields of education, environment and energy, health, leadership and democracy, and youth development. AED has pioneered many approaches to working with youth; designs, guides, and evaluates programs; and develops and provides publications, tools, and youth worker trainings.

    Advocates for Youth
    http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/
    Advocates for Youth believes that young people have the right to participate meaningfully in developing programs and policies that will affect their health and well-being. Advocates for Youth works in the United States and in developing countries to promote youth-adult partnerships and to empower young people as advocates and leaders in the field of sexual health.

    At the Table
    www.atthetable.org/ 
    AttheTable.org is a project of the Innovation Center for Community and Youth Development formed to facilitate a coordinated, sustainable national youth participation movement. It provides resources and information about how to involve youth in decision-making. It works with partner organizations to educate and inform about the value of youth participation, as well as to prepare youth and adults to work together to create positive change.

    Building Partnerships for Youth
    http://cals-cf.calsnet.arizona.edu/fcs/bpy/index.cfm
    Building Partnerships for Youth is a partnership between National 4-H Council and the University of Arizona designed to build the capacity of societal institutions that work with young people. This project will support professionals in educational, health, faith-based, and voluntary youth organizations to facilitate the intentional integration of youth development concepts and approaches into policies and programs.

    California Center for Civic Participation and Youth Development
    www.californiacenter.org     
    The California Center works to engage youth in the democratic process by using youth development principles. It provides opportunities for middle and high school youth to participate in civic education, leadership, and service programs that directly connect to local, state, and federal issues. It encourages youth of all backgrounds to participate, including those considered to be at risk.

    Edmund S. Muskie School of Public Service (Muskie) Youth & Community Engagement Team
    http://www.muskie.usm.maine.edu/m_view_person.jsp?id=212
    Director - Marty Zanghi
    Policy Analyst - Penthea Burns
    Through the work of the Youth and Community Engagement Team at the Muskie School of Public Service, advocates, families, child welfare system professionals and youth in foster care have been working together in Maine for nearly ten years in a variety of ways: organizing youth leadership conferences, supporting youth as leaders and trainers, researching the promising practices for the independent living field, developing an adolescent caseworker competency model and training curriculum, designing and implementing model mentoring programs, as well as identifying and supporting employment and educational opportunities for youth. The Youth Leadership Advisory Team (YLAT), a partnership between Maine's Office of Child and Family Services and the Muskie School, has focused on engaging youth in foster care in education and advocacy about youth priorities and system reform since 1998.  

    The Freechild Project
    http://www.freechild.org/
    The Freechild Project is a resource, training, and consultation program working with individuals and organizations around the world. We focus on a variety of topics, including youth voice, youth-led activism, meaningful youth involvement, and youth-adult partnerships

    The Forum for Youth Investment
    http://www.forumfyi.org/
    The Forum for Youth Investment (the Forum) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to helping communities and the nation make sure all young people are Ready by 21--ready for college, work and life. This goal requires that young people have the supports, opportunities and services needed to prosper and contribute where they live, learn, work, play and make a difference. The Forum provides youth and adult leaders with the information, technical assistance, training, network support and partnership opportunities needed to increase the quality and quantity of youth investment and youth involvement.

    Global Youth Action Network (GYAN)
    http://www.youthlink.org/gyanv5/index.htm
    GYAN is a youth-led organization that unites the efforts of young people working to improve our world. The Network connects many thousands of organizations in over 190 countries and a growing membership is now helping to shape the future direction of GYAN.     GYAN works to: facilitate youth participation and intergenerational partnership in global decision-making; support collaboration among diverse youth organizations; and to provide tools, resources, and recognition for positive youth action.

    Heartwood: Centre for Community Youth Development
    http://www.heartwood.ns.ca/main.shtml
    Heartwood's mission is to work with youth to develop their skills and confidence as community builders.We train and support adults, young adults and agencies in teh skills and tools they require to support meaningful youth participation in creating healthy communities.

    Innovation Center for Community Youth Development
    http://www.theinnovationcenter.org/    The ICCYD unleashes the potential of youth, adults, organizations and communities to engage together in creating a just and equitable society.

    Makin' It Happen Coalition
    www.makinithappen.org 
    Makin' it Happen Coalition is a non-profit organization dedicated to serving youth using a unique, challenging, and proven approach to building positive attitudes in youth. Over the last 20 years, the Youth to Youth model has been replicated in hundreds of communities across the United States and around the world. The program can easily be adapted to any community. The specific activities and levels of involvement vary depending on the setting. For more information on Youth to Youth, go to: www.y2yint.com/

    The Medical Foundation
    www.tmfnet.org
    The Medical Foundation (TMF) works in partnership with community coalitions, collaborations, health and service providers, faith communities, health centers, youth programs, and other organizations to promote the health of individuals and communities. Among its many programs, TMF is nationally recognized for youth development and peer leadership training. In addition to providing youth with leadership training, it has developed training manuals to help other groups and organizations develop and sustain peer leadership training programs. TMF also provides training for youth workers, prevention specialists, community organizers, educators, and youth to prepare organizations to engage effectively in youth work.

    National Network for Youth
    http://www.nn4youth.org/
    The National Network for Youth is a 30-year old national non-profit membership and advocacy organization that provides education, networking, training, materials and policy work with federal, state, and local lawmakers. The mission of the National Network for Youth is to champion the needs of runaway, homeless, and other disconnected youth through advocacy, innovation and services - one community at a time.

    The National Service-Learning Clearing House
    http://www.servicelearning.org/      
    The National Service-Learning Clearinghouse (NSLC) website supports the service-learning efforts of schools, higher education institutions, communities, and tribal nations. This website offers thousands of online resources on a range of topics, including youth & adult partnership.

    Random Kids
    http://www.randomkids.org/
    Empower kids to realize the infinite value of who they are right now and their unique power to make the world a better place because of it.  

    The Search Institute
    http://www.search-institute.org/     
    The Search Institute is a great reference site for information and education on youth and adult partnerships. 

    Strengths in Focus
    http://strengthsinfocus.com/
    Chris Trout provides resources & reflections about resiliency and strengths-focused work with youth and adults. 

    Youth Action Network
    http://www.youthactionnetwork.org/
    The Youth Action Network is a Canadian organization that is dedicated to helping youth become more informed and actively involved in order to move toward a just and sustainable society. On their website you can find information about the youth leadership events they organize, resources and toolkits, and more!

    YOUTHINK
    http://www.youthinkportland.org/
    YOUTHINK is Portland Maine’s newest youth board that is working to promote youth voice and involvement in the community.

    Youth Infusion
    http://youthinfusion.com/
    Youth Infusion is an organization created and run by young people which works to support youth as decision-makers, advocates, and community change-agents. They help the organizations and institutions that make decisions for  youth start making decisions with youth. Youth Infusion offers a consulting service for organizations to help them meaningfully engage youth.

    Youth Leadership Institute (YLI)
    http://www.yli.org/
    Youth Leadership Institute operates in partnership wiht young people and the systems that sustain them to build communities that value, honor & support youth. 

    Youth Leadership Advisory Team (YLAT)
    http://www.ylat.org
    A team of Maine youth in care (in state custody), ages 14-21, engaged in the education of the government, general public, caregivers, and peers regarding the needs of children and young adults in the child welfare system. Advocating for positive changes in the child welfare system, YLAT members help develop, guide, and revise the Bureau of Child and Family Services policies in order to create safety, comfort, and opportunities for all kids in care.

    YouthNet
    www.youthnet.org
    YouthNet is a global program to improve reproductive health and prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS among people 10 to 24 years old. It is a collaboration with young people, parents, schools, employers, policymakers, health professionals, faith-based programs, and community leaders. Most importantly, YouthNet involves youth in every aspect of the program.

    Youth on Board
    http://www.youthonboard.org/  
    Prepares youth to be leaders and decision makers in their communities and strengthens relationships between youth and adults through publications, customized workshops, and technical assistance.