This 6-part webinar series, funded by the California Interagency Council on Homelessness, was created by youth homelessness subject matter experts André Thomas, Dahsuri Togi, Liam Spady, and Phoebe Ricker to help communities create and sustain Youth Action Boards.
Session 1: Workshop Overview & YAB 101
What is a Youth Action Board? Why is it important to ending youth homelessness in your community, and what can it do? Youth subject matter experts share insights on the power of youth-led change and what is needed to build a sustainable group.
Session 2: YAB External Structure
Budgeting and funding; knowing which decisions should be up to the Youth Action Board, which ones should be handled by allies and sponsors, and which ones can be made together; and providing the necessary supports for a YAB to thrive sustainably over time.
Session 3: YAB Internal Structure
Leadership roles, decision-making styles, community agreements, planning a good meeting, and the value of “respectful disagreements.”
Session 4: YAB Initial Engagement
Orientation, including clarity about the purpose of your Youth Action Board — inviting and/or hiring youth to join the YAB — and the “who, where, & how” of youth engagement.
Session 5: YAB Long-Term Engagement
How to support Youth Action Board members’ life successes; resisting inappropriate requests for youth to “tell their story”; the importance of meaningful projects and progress (beware the back burner!); and how to balance work and fun.
Session 6: Youth after YAB
What are your Youth Action Board members’ goals, and how can you help them to get there? Presenter share proven ideas for facilitating professional development opportunities, fostering leadership, and building skills — and to close out the Launch Pad series, each presenter shares their own story of professional growth built on the foundation of YAB leadership.
