Youth Engagement Toolkit Series

The RAISE Center created the Youth Engagement Toolkit Series to help inform the staff who are supporting youth engagement efforts and provide strategies and tips that help their respective organizations to implement or improve their youth engagement practices. Ultimately ensuring that organizations create programs and supports that are not doing things “to” or “for” a youth, but “with” them. 

The toolkits were written and organized based on the steps of the Youth Engagement Continuum

youth engagement continuum

The RAISE Youth Engagement Toolkit Series

This toolkit serves as an introduction to the concept of youth engagement and helps set the stage for an organization to move beyond the youth services approach and begin to consider the idea of youth development. 

This toolkit is designed to help staff members understand the competencies that youth should be working on and understanding in order to become effective leaders. 

This toolkit is designed to help staff members explore different leadership styles and then address concepts that promote effective leadership. Such as critical thinking, decision making, responsibility, and service to the community.

This toolkit is designed to help staff encourage the empowerment of youth. Gaining an understanding of how adults can help youth understand the impact the youth voice can have on programs and projects. When youth feel valued they feel empowered.

This toolkit is designed to help staff understand how to best support and empower a group of youth that will be working on shared projects. Offering a framework that addresses promoting teamwork, thinking as a collective, and building a diverse and inclusive community.