This report was published by the The Heinz Endowments’ Education Program.

HERE’S HOW THE AUTHORS DESCRIBE THIS REPORT:

To develop an effective organizational and field-building strategy the Endowments’ provided a grant to the Funders’ Collaborative on Youth Organizing (FCYO) to conduct an assessment and make recommendations for building the region’s capacity to engage in youth organizing strategies that strengthen the city’s education system.This report provides background on the region, a review of relevant research in the youth engagement and organizing fields, our findings and recommendations, key principles for implementation, and a discussion of the role of philanthropy in field building. The scope of our work included background research and 37 in-depth interviews with representatives from community-based organizations, staff members at local foundations, and university researchers who focus on youth and community engagement. We also conducted one focus group with youth, two focus groups with practitioners from various parts of the youth engagement field in Pittsburgh, a review of best practices across the field, and an analysis of theories and frameworks from the youth organizing research base.