Belonging as Agency: Supporting Transformative Learning and Development for Youth and Young Adults
- Alicia Wilson-Ahlstrom, Consultant, The Forum for Youth Investment
- Jazzman Anderson, Digital Divide Instructor, YouthBuild McLean County
- Jacob Aparicio, Building Bridges & WeCity Program Coordinator at Oasis Center
COVID has magnified the need to demand that all youth have equitable opportunity and access to transformative spaces of belonging and agency. We believe that belonging and agency are the next critical place for fully understanding and tapping the potential of transformative learning and development environments. In this workshop, we introduce a new set of stories and tools that amplify strategies to improve and expand spaces of belonging and agency for youth and young adults – inside youth programs and schools, within their communities, and in the larger ecosystem. The stories and tools were developed based on a series of discussions with organizations that do the work of creating belonging and agency well, and a deep dive into understanding the common elements of their practices and approach. Workshop leaders will include members of the working group that explored these common elements, sharing insights and tools in this interactive session.
Resources:
- Belonging as Agency Presentation
- Equitable Ecosystem YouthBuild
- Oasis Doc
- Oasis Center Story
- YouthBuild Discussion Tool
- Oasis Discussion Tool
COVID Relief Funding for Kids Crash Course
Kylie Wheeler, Project Manager, Children’s Funding Project
Federal COVID-19 relief so far totals about $5 trillion, with $800 billion (or 16%) directly or indirectly eligible to fund programs and services for children and youth. What funding makes up this 16%? How are states, localities, and community-based organizations leveraging the new and supplemental dollars to not only respond and recover but also to put “down payments” on long-term improvements to quality and access for kids? Learn the ins and outs of federal COVID-19 relief related to children and youth and explore the innovative options for taking advantage of the unprecedented level of new investment made available by the American Rescue Plan Act and previous legislation.
Deconstructing YPQI Part 1: Meaningful Assessment and Data Collection
Krista Collins, Director, Research and Evaluation, Weikart Center for Youth Program Quality, The Forum for Youth Investment
The first session of this two-part series will bring together a panel of youth development organizations who quickly pivoted their approach to assessment and data use in response to program changes resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. These networks will share details about their change management process, best practices and lessons learned around adapting assessments and quality standards, facilitating mini-improvement cycles, and embracing more flexible improvement plans that leverage the most timely and relevant information to guide immediate program decisions.
Resources:
- Deconstructing YPQI Part 1 Presentation
- Denver Afterschool Alliance PIRL Assessment Tool
- Sprockets “Work With What You’ve Got!”
DIY Advocacy Agenda – Leave Ready to Act
- Thaddeus Ferber, Executive Vice President, The Forum for Youth Investment and Co-Founder, SparkAction
- Gerod Blue, Senior Policy Manager, The Forum for Youth Investment
- Sher Jamal Stone, Digital Engagement Associate, SparkAction, The Forum for Youth Investment
Don’t have a master’s degree in public policy but want to know how to launch an effective advocacy campaign? This session is for you. Learn from the people who secured $195 million of federal support for Opportunity Youth over a two-year period on how you too can conceptualize and launch an effective advocacy campaign focused on any level of government. This will be a hands on session where you will be actively led through a series of exercises and leave the room with a solid plan crafted out for your very own campaign.
Additional Resources:
Essentials of Quality Social and Emotional Learning Practice
Amanda Ruud, Training Delivery Specialist, Weikart Center for Youth Program Quality, The Forum for Youth Investment
Participants in this workshop will explore a framework that is useful for focused on harnessing Social and Emotional Learning efforts on change in practice. Workshop activities will engage participants in examining SEL efforts in the context of both the field’s commitment to Positive Youth Development and the research, resources, and supports driving adoption of SEL practices in staff practices, program management, and continuous quality improvement efforts. Identify ways to have a greater impact on SEL development of young people, wherever they work with them.
Now is the Time to Build Forward Together
- Katherine Plog Martinez, Consultant, The Forum for Youth Investment
- Caroline Shaw, Executive Director, The Opportunity Project
- Paula Shannon, Deputy Superintendent, Tulsa Public Schools
- Bryan Joffe, Project Director – Education and Youth Development, AASA
The Readiness Projects partners are challenging communities not to “return to normal” after the great disruptions of the past year, but instead to Build Forward Together. We are working alongside community partners to collaboratively create equitable learning and development ecosystems that unleash the potential of all learners, recognize the power of all committed adults, and optimize all learning settings and approaches. In this workshop, participants will hear from community leaders innovating in their schools and out-of-school-time programs, test out applying the five strategies, and practice using new Build Forward Together tools and resources.
Putting Equity into Action: Lessons from Indiana’s Commission on Improving the Status of Children
- Julie L. Whitman, MSW, Executive Director, Commission on Improving the Status of Children in Indiana
- Jill English, Director, Interrupting Racism for Children, Child Advocates
It’s easy to talk about equitable policies – in a government or any organization. But how do you create an intentional process to make sure equity happens in practice – all the time? Hear from Indiana’s Commission on Improving the Status of Children about their Guide for Equity Consideration and how it’s making a difference.
Self-Care for Black Staff and Leaders
- Kiylise Lowe, Training Design Specialist, Weikart Center for Youth Program Quality, The Forum for Youth Investment
- Alandra Jackson, Senior Program Associate, Weikart Center for Youth Program Quality, The Forum for Youth Investment
Please note there is no recording for this session. The session leaders decided that not recording was better for having an open discussion.
Giving space for Black staff and Leaders to show up as their authentic self, to foster a space of community and support while simultaneously supporting young people. This session will model the Black affinity group at the Forum for Youth Investment, which started out as a safe space for Black staff to support each other as the world happened around us, with little reprieve. Join us for self-care practices and tips for “showing up” when the world is showing out.
Stability and Change in Out-of-School Time Systems
- Ivan Charner, Education and Workforce Consultant, Former Senior Advisor and Director National Institute for Work and Learning, FHI 360
- Caitlín Rose Dailey, Senior Research Lead, FHI 360
- Priscilla Little, Senior Consultant, The Forum for Youth Investment
Citywide systems that coordinate the work of out-of-school time (OST) providers, government agencies, private funders, and others are designed to ensure that OST programs reach children who lack access to quality programming. In 2012, The Wallace Foundation asked FHI 360 to conduct an exploratory study to determine the extent to which U.S. cities with populations over 100,000 were undertaking afterschool system-building initiatives. As follow-up to the earlier study, FHI 360 recently released Stability and Change in Afterschool Systems, 2013-2020, a “sustainability study,” to ascertain the current status of afterschool system development in the same cities that were coordinating in 2012–2013. Authors of the study will share their findings and insights and engage workshop participants in a discussion of implications for their own work.