Youth Leaders work closely with one another and their adult allies to design programming they then co-facilitate with groups of their peers. This programming focuses on 1) developing young people’s advocacy skills and 2) learning together about the issues young people encounter in their schools. The overarching goal is to foster a growing youth movement for improving schools through prioritizing the inclusion of student voice in school-based decision making.
Youth Leaders help their peers see how the barriers they experience in their local schools are similar to the barriers students experience across Massachusetts. They also support their peers to analyze and understand the systemic conditions that create barriers to learning and brainstorm advocacy actions to address these conditions.
Specifically, Youth Leaders engage in the following work:
The success of the Youth Leadership Team is built on the dedication of those who served in previous years. We proudly recognize our alumni and the lasting difference they have made through their leadership and hard work. They played an important role in advancing our efforts to increase student voice in MA schools. We celebrate their accomplishments and appreciate their contributions to our community.
This website is dedicated to the valuable lessons we can learn from students’ own experiences about how to create better schools. Decisions about schooling are often made without listening deeply to students themselves. But students are in the best position to understand what they need in order to do well in school.
A collaboration of the Trauma and Learning Policy Initiative (TLPI), Harvard Law School and Massachusetts Advocates for Children (MAC). LEARN MORE