Title: Developing Youth Leadership Skills | School-Based Health Alliance Developing Youth Leadership Skills | Redefining Health for Kids and Teens
Headings: Developing Youth Leadership Skills
Developing Youth Leadership Skills
Principles of Developing Youth Leadership Skills
Look for leadership potential in everyone.
Young people develop as leaders when caring adults take the time to give them meaningful feedback and build their self-confidence.
‘Opportunities’ are when youth lead projects or activities.
Offer lots of training and clear guidance.
Ideas for Creating Youth Leadership Development Opportunities
Outreach and Engagement
Projects Youth Can Undertake to Promote a Health Center
Youth Advisory Councils
Research and Assessments
Peer-to-Peer Education

Content: Plan to meet regularly with core leaders and be on the lookout for impromptu individual meetings. These could happen while walking with a youth to get a snack before or after a meeting. ‘Opportunities’ are when youth lead projects or activities. Sometimes it’s hard to take a step back and play the supportive role, but it is the only way to develop leaders authentically. You can have a negative impact if you ask a youth to take ownership of a task and then decide to do it yourself. When leaders do not come through on an assignment, it’s important to hold them accountable. At the same time, you must examine the skills and assistance you provide to the group to ensure that expectations were clear, a timeline was created, and follow up took place to inquire about any extra support needed. Make sure young people have the guidance needed to complete agreed upon activities. Offer lots of training and clear guidance. Youth need training to understand public health issues, education models, and methods of effective publicity.