This report was published as part of a series by Funders’ Collaborative on Youth Organizing.

HERE’S HOW THE AUTHORS DESCRIBE THIS REPORT:

Funders’ Collaborative on Youth Organizing (FCYO)’s Occasional Papers Series (OPS) is a series of papers aiming to capture and document growing knowledge around youth organizing, and address key issues and questions commonly posed by funders and practitioners about the work and field overall. There are 11 OPS installments, which explain the theories behind youth organizing as a strategy for transformative youth development and social change, track the history of youth organizing in different regions across the United States, and uplift the individual, community, and societal impacts of youth organizing.

This first installment of the series (OPS 1-4) includes three articles and an annotated bibliography, including OPS 3, Youth Organizing: Expanding Possibilities for Youth Development, by scholar-activist Shawn Ginwright, who looks at the nexus of youth development and youth organizing, tracing how youth organizing yields positive youth development and social change.

Although the papers reflect the different approaches, models, and variety of issues within youth organizing, they also reflect the common belief shared by all youth organizing efforts: that all young people have the inherent capacity to be active, contributing partners in their own individual development as well as in the development of their communities.