Building Effective Youth Councils Publication
A few weeks ago we released Core Principles for Engaging Young People in Community Change. Today, we are delighted to release our latest youth engagement publication, Building Effective Youth Councils, which applies the core principles of youth engagement to youth councils: entities created by government agencies to bring youth perspectives into policy decisions. This guide is designed to help states and localities create or strengthen their own youth councils. The paper, highlighted in the latest issue of Youth Today Newspaper, is being disseminated by the National Conference of State Legislators and the National League of Cities as part of a dissemination partnership. 

Upcoming Webinar: Building Effective Youth Councils
November 14th, 4 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. EST
This Webinar will offer an opportunity to hear firsthand about the great work youth councils are doing and what it takes to build an effective youth council.  Plus, the Forum will discuss the key principles of creating an effective council, which are outlined in the paper Building Effective Youth Councils. Click here to register.

Archived Forum/United Way Webinar.
On September 27th, two local United Ways were featured on this youth engagement Webinar, co-sponsored by the Forum and United Way of America. Learn how the United Way of North Central Massachusetts in Fitchburg, MA is empowering young people through the United Way-Youth Venture partnership and how the United Way Capital Area in Austin, TX has engaged community partners and young people in community issues.  Also hear a quick overview of the Forum's key principles of youth engagement. Listen to archived Webinar.

Along with its partners, High/Scope Educational Research Foundation and the AED National Training Institute for Community Youth Work, the Forum is pleased to announce the selection of twelve state and local sites to be involved with the Ready by 21 Quality Counts Initiative.  The selected communities include seven cities and five states.  The selected cities are: Austin, TX; Georgetown Divide, CA; Columbus, IN; Indianapolis, IN; Grand Rapids, MI; Nashville, TN; and St. Louis, MO.  The selected states include: Iowa, Kentucky, New York, Oklahoma and Rhode Island. 

Read the press release, which includes more information about the Initiative, as well as a background piece containing short summaries about each of the selected sites.

The 3rd Annual Youth Policy Institute hosted by the Forum and the National Conference of State Legislatures was successfully conducted in Minneapolis last month.  This meeting was billed as an "advanced" Institute because we brought teams back that had participated in the first one in Chicago in 2005.  To our delight, the teams came to this Institute with a great amount of work that they had completed in the interim.  Teams of policy makers from Arizona, Connecticut, Iowa, Kentucky, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Carolina and Utah shared the progress they have made in coordinating across departments, improving program quality and fostering youth participation.

In Karen Pittman's Youth Today column, she makes the case that youth development is ongoing, uneven and complex.  Further, she argues that youth development is heavily: mediated through relationships; influenced by environment; and triggered by participation, expectations and opportunities for involvement, commitment, contribution and learning.
Read the full column.

Thanks to Atlantic Philanthropies for bringing some of the Forum's current and future funders together to spend an evening learning about the new partnership between the Forum and United Way of America (UWA) who have combined forces to ensure that every community in America has the tools and metrics they need to change the odds for children and youth.  "Helping children and youth achieve their full potential" is one of the three big goals articulated in UWA's Common Good Framework. The Forum's Ready by 21™ framework helps communities specify this goal, assess the current status of youth outcomes and community supports, and take action to create lasting changes in community conditions.  This last step represents the essence of the Community Impact model that increasing numbers of local United Ways are using to redefine their role as valued community partners.  Having made the commitment to blend our frameworks and share information across our networks, the Forum and United Way of America are in the process of securing funding to provide deeper and more sustained supports to interested communities.

The Forum is seeking a creative person who is looking to use their creativity for a good cause.  This highly sought after position will be responsible for developing/creating print materials, maintaining the Forum's Web site; producing and executing of email campaigns, maintaining high end production printer and responding to information requests.  Read the job description and send cover letter, resume, and sample design work (anything from a flier you designed for a friend's birthday party to a professional portfolio is fine) to Thaddeus@forumfyi.org.

Sincerely,

Karen Pittman and Thaddeus Ferber
The Forum for Youth Investment