Section 9. Establishing Youth Organizations

 

You're an adult walking through the shopping mall when you see a group of adolescents talking, laughing, and full of energy. You find yourself wondering how that energy, creativity, and enthusiasm might contribute to something meaningful in the community.

Or maybe you're a young person, and a student at your school recently died by suicide. You didn't know them well, but the loss still affects you and others around you. You want to better understand how young people can support one another, how to recognize when someone may need help, and what your school or community can do to promote mental health and connection. Some of your friends feel the same way. What can you all do?

Whether you're a concerned young person or an interested adult, one option is to help start a youth organization. Organizations led by or created with young people can contribute a great deal to a community. Think of the organizations you already know about--you may have participated in some yourself. Youth organizations can focus on almost any topic and pursue a wide variety of goals. Here's a grab-bag of examples:

• Scouting or other youth leadership organizations
• Soccer leagues and other sports organizations
• A student-led safe-driving or substance-use prevention group
• A student chapter of a human rights organization
• A class or student organization that volunteers in the community
• A youth advisory council for a city-wide health or community organization

Youth organizations can be started by young people themselves, by adults working in partnership with young people, or by both together. In this section, we'll look at the steps in developing a youth organization from several perspectives. We'll start with what a youth group can be and the advantages of creating one. Then we'll talk about who might help start the group and the different roles young people and adults can play. Next, we'll look at when it may be a good time to start a group and how to go about doing it. Finally, we'll offer some specific guidance for adults who serve as mentors, facilitators, sponsors, or partners.

What form can a youth organization take?

A youth organization can be almost as broad--or as narrow--in scope as an organization for adults or for the community as a whole. Youth organizations can operate through schools, faith communities, neighborhoods, recreation centers, libraries, community organizations, or online and hybrid spaces. They may operate locally, nationally, or internationally. They can be organized and led by young people themselves, developed through youth-adult partnerships, or supported by adults such as coaches, educators, faith leaders, community organizers, or youth-serving professionals. A local youth organization can also be one part of a larger effort; for example, a community coalition addressing substance use might have a youth advisory council that helps identify priorities, develop strategies, and evaluate what is likely to work with young people.

In this section, we are going to concentrate primarily on youth organizations developed to improve the community--for example, groups focused on health, community safety, environmental issues, civic engagement, mental health, or social justice. However, many of the ideas discussed here can also apply to student groups, arts organizations, sports teams, service clubs, and other groups that bring young people together around shared interests.

One example might be a youth-led community organization that brings together young people from different neighborhoods, schools, cultures, and backgrounds to identify issues that matter to them and develop projects in response.

Its goals might include:

• Creating safe, welcoming, and inclusive spaces for young people
• Promoting open communication among young people
• Building relationships across cultures, identities, and communities
• Developing leadership skills and opportunities for young people

Such a group might hold regular meetings where young people discuss issues such as culture, race, relationships, mental health, education, violence prevention, or community conditions. It might also provide opportunities for leadership development, career exploration, mentoring, advocacy, and community service.

Young people might also use music, dance, theater, visual art, video, podcasts, social media, or other forms of creative expression to explore issues that affect their lives. They could share their work in schools, neighborhoods, community centers, online platforms, or public events.

This type of organization illustrates how young people can identify issues they care about, create supportive spaces, build relationships, develop leadership skills, and contribute directly to their communities.

Why establish youth organizations?

Participation in a youth organization can offer important benefits for young people as well as for the broader community. One of the most obvious advantages is that youth organizations give young people meaningful opportunities to address issues that matter to them, such as education, mental health, violence prevention, environmental concerns, civic participation, or community safety. There are many other potential benefits as well.

Advantages for young people:

• Being part of a group can help young people develop personal and interpersonal skills, including critical thinking, problem-solving, communication, collaboration, and shared responsibility.
• It can help young people build confidence and recognize that their ideas, experiences, skills, and leadership can make meaningful contributions to their communities.
• It can strengthen protective factors by helping young people develop supportive relationships, positive identities, leadership opportunities, and meaningful connections to their communities. These experiences can support healthy decision-making and reduce exposure to some harmful situations.
• Young people involved in organizations can develop skills useful in school, work, and civic life, including organizing projects, facilitating meetings, communicating with different groups, managing responsibilities, and working as part of a team.
• Organizations can provide welcoming spaces where young people can express themselves through conversation, arts, recreation, advocacy, service, or other activities and build relationships with peers and supportive adults.
• Youth organizations create opportunities for young people to practice leadership and participate in decisions that affect them.
• Young people can exchange credible information about health, safety, community resources, and other issues with peers they know and trust. Peer-to-peer communication can complement information from families, educators, health professionals, and other adults.
• Young people can build networks of peers and supportive adults who encourage healthy choices, provide guidance, and help one another during difficult situations.

Advantages for the community:

• Youth organizations can help communities recognize young people as community members with knowledge, strengths, creativity, and leadership to contribute--not simply as people whose problems adults need to solve.
• Involving young people can bring perspectives into community decision-making that might otherwise be missing and can strengthen young people's sense of belonging, agency, and connection to the community.
• Youth organizations can help young people develop leadership experience now while also strengthening the community's future leadership.
• Other community organizations can partner with youth organizations for mutual benefit. Young people can contribute creativity, energy, lived experience, technological knowledge, cultural insight, and perspectives that strengthen broader community initiatives.

Who should establish youth organizations?

As we said above, youth organizations may be started by young people themselves, by adults, or through youth-adult partnerships. Each approach may make sense in different circumstances. The most important question is whether young people have meaningful opportunities to shape the group's purpose, structure, activities, and decisions.

Adults

Adults who help begin or sponsor youth organizations can come from many backgrounds. They may include teachers, coaches, parents and caregivers, faith leaders, community organizers, health professionals, social service staff, or others who care about young people and the issue being addressed. Adults may also bring relevant lived experience. For example, someone who became a parent as an adolescent might want to support young parents navigating education, parenting, health care, employment, and other responsibilities.

Whatever their background, adults who work with youth organizations should share a commitment to young people, the goals of the group, respectful relationships, and meaningful youth participation.

An adult who already has trusted relationships in the community may find it easier to help start a youth organization. They may understand local resources, culture, challenges, and opportunities and may already have relationships with young people and families. Shared cultural or community experience can sometimes strengthen understanding and trust, especially when the group addresses sensitive topics such as substance use, violence, sexual health, mental health, discrimination, or relationships.

Adults from outside the community can also make valuable contributions. They may bring new ideas, specialized knowledge, relationships, funding opportunities, or connections to regional or national organizations. At the same time, outside organizers should take time to build relationships, learn from young people and community members, understand local history and priorities, and avoid assuming that a successful program elsewhere can simply be brought into a new community unchanged.

Adult sponsors can also help youth organizations navigate systems that may be less accessible to young people, such as grant applications, financial management, transportation arrangements, insurance requirements, facility use, or relationships with institutions. The adult's role should be to expand young people's opportunities and support their leadership rather than taking over decisions that young people can make themselves.

A school-based service club, for example, may pair student leadership with support from an adult advisor and a larger community organization. Young people can plan and lead projects while also drawing on the resources, relationships, and experience of adult partners.

Young people

Young people have direct knowledge of many of the issues that affect them and their peers. Their experiences, relationships, perspectives, and ideas are essential to understanding what is happening and what responses might work. Young people may form a formal organization, create a student coalition, organize a campaign, build an online network, or develop something much less formal to share information and take action.

For example, young people might create a grassroots arts and advocacy network that uses music, writing, visual art, social media, podcasts, or other forms of expression to address issues such as racism, sexism, violence, mental health, sexual violence prevention, LGBTQ+ inclusion, disability justice, or school climate.

Informal youth-led networks can be powerful because young people choose the issues, shape the message, decide how to organize, and create forms of participation that make sense to them. Adult allies can provide support when invited without taking control of the work.

When is a good time to establish an organization?

There may be many good times to start a youth organization, especially when young people themselves are interested in forming one. Some events or circumstances can create especially strong opportunities for young people to organize and improve their communities. These include:

• When a significant or traumatic event affects young people or the broader community, and young people want a constructive way to respond, support one another, or advocate for change
• At the beginning of the school year or another transition period, when young people may be looking for opportunities to connect, belong, and become involved
• When new information identifies an important issue. For example, a survey may show that many young people are concerned about substance use, mental health, school climate, transportation, or another community issue.
• When existing organizations are not adequately addressing young people's priorities or needs
• When a group wants to create broad community change. This may be a good time to establish a youth advisory council, youth leadership team, or another structure that gives young people meaningful influence within a larger initiative.
• When the community is responding to an urgent concern, such as increased violence, discrimination, housing instability, or another issue affecting young people
• When a significant issue affecting young people needs greater attention or youth leadership

How do you establish youth organizations?

Decide what type of youth organization you want to form

If you are a young person yourself, you may already have an idea of what type of group you want to form. Still, it can be helpful to ask other young people what matters to them and what kind of group they would want to participate in. Ask direct questions such as:

• What issues are important enough to young people in our community that you would join a group to work on them?
• What are some of the biggest concerns or opportunities for young people today?
• What's the real cause of the problem?
• What strengths and resources already exist, and what else do you think should be done?
• Do you know of anything already being done about the issue? Could we partner with people who are already working on it?

You might also talk with potential sponsors, community partners, or organizations that could provide resources or support.

Adults may also have ideas or funding related to a particular issue. If you're an adult, however, it's especially important to involve young people before designing the group. Are young people interested in the issue? How do they define it? What would make participation worthwhile to them? What role do they want adults to play? Young people should help shape the answers rather than being asked only to participate in a program that has already been designed.

Adults and young people may also want support from other community partners. Schools, community organizations, businesses, libraries, recreation programs, health organizations, local government, and others may be able to provide space, expertise, transportation, supplies, funding, mentoring, or other resources.

One option to consider is whether the group should be affiliated with a larger organization. For example, a group of young people interested in human rights might create a local chapter of an established organization or develop an independent local group focused on issues in their own community. Larger organizations may offer training, resources, recognition, and connections, while independent groups may have greater flexibility and local control. Discuss these options with the young people who will be involved.

Decide where the organization should be based

Where the organization is based can affect who participates, how accessible the group is, what resources are available, and how comfortable young people feel attending. Meetings might take place at a school, library, recreation center, community organization, faith community, cultural organization, youth center, or another accessible location. Some groups may also use online or hybrid meetings.

Think carefully about whether a location feels welcoming to all of the young people you hope to involve. A young person who has had negative experiences at school, for example, may not feel comfortable returning there for a community group. Other young people may have transportation, accessibility, safety, scheduling, or privacy concerns.

Very commonly, youth organizations operate out of schools, faith communities, social service organizations, recreation centers, libraries, community organizations, or other shared spaces. Each option has advantages and disadvantages, so think carefully before deciding.

For example, if you want to engage young people who left school before graduating, the local high school may not be the most welcoming or accessible meeting place. A community center, library, youth center, workforce program, or other location may work better. By contrast, a student group focused on safe driving or school climate may make the most sense within the school itself.

When the location isn't obvious, brainstorm possible places and list the advantages and disadvantages of each. Members of the group might discuss:

• Would this place be willing to host us?
• Would the young people we hope to involve feel comfortable and welcome there?
• Would there be any financial costs?
• Could the organization provide useful resources or support?
• Does the location allow the group to carry out its mission and activities appropriately?
• Do group members already have relationships or connections there?
• How easy is it for young people to get there? Consider transportation, disability access, scheduling, safety, and other barriers.

Often, discussing these questions with young people will make the best options much clearer.

Recruit members (and, if necessary, adult assistants)

You can't have an organization--youth-based or otherwise--without members. Your next step is to get the word out about what you're doing. How you do this depends on whom you hope to involve. You might use school announcements, social media, text messages, flyers, community events, peer outreach, youth-serving organizations, faith communities, recreation programs, or other channels.

Don't forget the value of personal invitations and peer-to-peer outreach. Young people often hear about opportunities through friends and trusted relationships. This can be especially important for young people who may not be connected to schools, faith communities, or other institutions where traditional announcements are made.

If your group was started by young people, you may decide to involve adults as sponsors, mentors, facilitators, or resource partners. Decide together what qualities you want in an adult partner and what role you want that person to play. Consider several possible people in case your first choice is not available.

Before approaching someone, be clear about what you are asking them to do. Do you want them to attend every meeting? Help obtain resources? Provide transportation? Support grant applications? Offer advice only when requested? Help with safety or organizational requirements? Clear expectations help prevent confusion and make it easier to maintain a youth-led or youth-adult partnership.

Define your goals clearly with group members

Once your members are together, it's time to sit down and make a plan. Members might brainstorm many ideas, but essentially, you'll want to answer two questions:

• What do we want to accomplish?
• How should we go about doing it?

A clear plan can help the group stay focused, share responsibilities, and measure progress. At the same time, leave room for goals and strategies to change as the group learns and new young people become involved.

Find out what resources are available to your organization

If your group is connected with a larger organization, such as a school, community organization, faith community, recreation program, or national network, there may already be resources available. Find out what they are and how your youth organization can access them.

Other organizations may also be willing to support the group. Grants or mini-grants may be available from public agencies, foundations, businesses, local coalitions, or community organizations. Support might also include meeting space, transportation, food, technology, supplies, mentoring, training, publicity, or staff assistance.

Think about what you actually need and who may be able to help. Need art supplies? A local business or arts organization may be willing to donate them. Need publicity? A school newsletter, community newspaper, radio station, local website, or social media partner may help spread the word. Need a meeting room? A library, recreation center, school, or community organization may have space available.

Obtain and use those resources

Once you've identified possible resources, reach out. Be clear about your goals, what you're asking for, and how the resource will support young people's work. Remember to acknowledge and thank the people and organizations that help.

Asking organizations for money, space, supplies, or other support can feel intimidating, especially for young people doing it for the first time. Adult partners can help young people prepare while still allowing them to speak for their own organization. Developing these relationships can itself be an important leadership experience.

Orient and train staff, adult assistants, and participants

The amount of orientation or training needed will depend on the organization. An informal peer-support group may need less formal training than a youth program providing health education, counseling, mentoring, or services. Still, every group should discuss expectations, roles, safety, confidentiality, decision-making, communication, accessibility, and how conflicts will be handled.

Facilitators and adult partners may also need training related to youth development, cultural humility, trauma-informed practice, facilitation, mental health, safeguarding, mandatory reporting requirements, or the specific issue the organization addresses. Young people should also receive whatever training and resources they need to carry out meaningful leadership roles.

Get to work!

Once you've decided what you want to do and created a plan, it's time to begin. Expect to make adjustments along the way. Youth organizations, like communities themselves, change as people learn, circumstances shift, and new members bring different ideas and experiences.

Celebrate your successes!

Not every activity will accomplish everything you hoped for, but it's important to recognize progress. Organizing a youth group takes work, creativity, and persistence. Celebrate accomplishments large and small, recognize everyone's contributions, and use what you've learned to strengthen the next stage of the group's work.

Special section: Help for adults seeking success in building a youth organization

Serving as an adult mentor, facilitator, sponsor, or partner in a youth organization can require patience, flexibility, and learning, especially if it's new to you. It can also be a meaningful opportunity to support young people's leadership and strengthen relationships across generations. The following suggestions may help.

• Recognize young people as community assets and partners. Avoid approaching them primarily as problems to be fixed, "at-risk" populations, or passive recipients of adult expertise. Young people bring knowledge, creativity, relationships, lived experience, skills, and leadership that can strengthen the organization and the broader community.
• Share meaningful decision-making power with young people. Young people should have substantial roles in planning, setting priorities, developing activities, evaluating the group's work, and making decisions. Some decisions may be limited by law, funding requirements, safety, or organizational policy, but adults should be transparent about those limits rather than presenting youth participation as greater than it actually is.
• Create a supportive environment while maintaining appropriate boundaries. Young people should know that trusted adults are available to listen, help them find resources, and connect them with appropriate support. Adults should also be clear about confidentiality, mandated reporting, professional boundaries, and what kinds of help they are qualified to provide.
• Give young people real responsibilities, resources, and support. Avoid assigning only symbolic roles. Match responsibilities with young people's interests, strengths, experience, and readiness, and provide the mentoring, training, information, and resources they need to succeed. Responsibility and leadership can grow over time as experience develops.
• Be clear about roles, rules, and decision-making. If adults retain authority over certain decisions, explain why. If some decisions are controlled by funders, schools, laws, or organizational policies, make those limits clear as well. Transparency helps young people understand where they genuinely have influence and where additional advocacy may be needed.
• Model the values you want the organization to reflect. Young people notice how adults communicate, handle mistakes, share power, respond to disagreement, treat other people, and follow through on commitments. Adults don't need to be perfect, but they should model accountability, respect, openness to feedback, and willingness to learn.

In Summary

Youth organizations can benefit both young people and the broader community. They can create opportunities for leadership, connection, skill-building, civic participation, creativity, advocacy, and community problem-solving.

Strong youth organizations do more than create programs for young people. They create meaningful opportunities to work with young people and, whenever possible, to support young people in leading the work themselves. Whether you are a young person starting an organization or an adult supporting one, build the group around respect, shared leadership, clear communication, access to resources, and the strengths and priorities of the young people involved.