Youth in Decision-Making: Research Highlights from a Study on the Impacts of Youth on Adults and Organizations

Launched by National 4-H Council in 1998 and now a project of the Innovation Center for Community and Youth Development, "At the Table" is a collaborative initiative aimed at building a national movement for youth in decision making. A research report by the National 4H Council, Youth in Decision-making, found that "when the right conditions are in place, involving youth in decision-making is a powerful strategy for positive change." These success factors include: The top decision-making group in the organization is committed to youth-adult partnerships, and its meetings are focused on vision and learning rather than bureaucratic rule-making and management. In these types of dynamic meetings, young people make substantial contributions. An adult visionary leader with power and authority strongly advocates for youth decision-making, breaking through traditional stereotypical views about young people. Over time, young people in the organization demand increasing participation in decision-making. Adults begin to actively value youth involvement in decision-making as: They work together on projects having a meaningful purpose, specific goals and important outcomes (not purely symbolic) They see youth succeeding on "adult turf" (such as in organizational meetings.) They see youth engage in community action that has real payoffs for community residents. Adults in the organization actively help young people become effective decision-makers: they create a ladder of increasing responsibility for youth to work their way up the organization, moving up through a variety of leadership-building and decision-making opportunities, and then they carefully select for leadership positions those young people who have been well-groomed to succeed. Organizations begin with older youth (17-21), and then eventually learn to integrate younger adolescents into governance roles. This creates successful experiences that can be built upon. Data was collected via personal interviews and focus groups with 94 participants representing 31 organizations having strong youth involvement.