Whole Child Connection of Children’s Institute is forming a youth leadership council. The council’s first task will be to plan a virtual convening, in partnership with America’s Promise Alliance, on youth voice and leadership. This virtual convening will be a youth-led and youth-designed gathering to address the following:

• Foster conversation, partnerships, and networking among youth participants and caring adults in their communities to forge new avenues for positive change
• Provide adult leaders with an opportunity to hear directly from young people about issues that impact them
• Create actionable next steps for community organizations, schools, and municipal agencies to partner with youth on a long-term, ongoing basis
• Put equity at the center of all processes and outcomes of this work, especially when it comes to the inclusion of the partners, young people, and stakeholders in this work
• Seek to challenge existing power dynamics between adults and young people
• Recognize that youth are the experts of their lived experience and uplift their leadership into conversations and decisions that affect their lives

We are seeking to create a team of youth (ages 14-19) who are passionate about working hard and elevating youth voice to positively impact our community. This event will be held in the spring of 2021.

We are looking for youth who:

• Have various lived experiences - we encourage youth who do not have formal youth leadership experience to apply - every voice matters!
• Want to work on a team to activate youth and adults on issues that matter to you.
• Are able to commit the time and energy needed to successfully lead this project from start to finish.

 
Youth will be compensated for their time.

If you know a young person who would be interested in this exciting leadership opportunity, please share the application. Application submission is due by 7 pm on Wednesday, February 10, 2021.

 

–Elizabeth Devaney, MM
Director, Whole Child Connection