Engaging Youth, Serving Community: Social Change Lessons from a 4H Rural Youth Development Program

Social change targeted at empowering youth requires youth and adults to work together as equals. Youth-adult partnerships create a platform to amplify youth voices. To succeed, youth-adult partnerships must be built on open communication and equal voice.

Using a case study, this paper shares six broadly applicable lessons learned through the Engaging Youth, Serving Community (ESYC) program. Based on evaluation and understanding of the EYSC experience, it highlights examples of how youth-adult partnerships can promote social change and civic engagement.

If you would like to provide feedback, please contact: kbw-series@cyber.harvard.edu.

This paper is part of the Kinder & Braver World Project: Research Series.