Empowerment Hub: Youth Leadership + Peer Support Resources

Youth Leadership

aFFIRM YOUTH LEADERS.

Youth leadership is about empowering young individuals to take initiative and lead positive changes in their communities. This section offers a range of resources to help youth develop critical leadership skills, including decision-making, communication, and project management.

Explore inspiring stories, practical guides, and expert tips to cultivate leadership qualities and drive impactful actions. Whether you're a young leader or a mentor supporting youth, these resources are designed to foster a generation of confident, capable leaders.

Youth Voice and Authentic Engagement

This toolkit explores authentic youth engagement, and best practices for engaging youth as meaningful partners in runaway and homeless youth programs — including how it benefits young people, why it works, and what it looks like in practice. Learn how to define and combat adultism and tokenism. Walk away from reading this toolkit with concrete tools to work with youth in empowering ways such as implementing YABs (Youth Advisory Boards) as well as hiring young people to create lasting organizational and community change.

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Reports and Toolkits

Youth Leadership Toolkit for LGBTQ+ Students: HRC

Provides tools and strategies for LGBTQ+ youth to develop leadership skills and advocate for change

The Youth Leadership Development Handbook: National Youth Leadership Council

Provides a framework for developing leadership skills in young people through service-learning and community engagement.

Supporting LGBTQ+ Youth Leaders: A Guide: Advocates for Youth

Offers guidance and resources for fostering leadership among LGBTQ+ youth.

Including All Voices: The Aspen Institute Forum for Community Solutions

A comprehensive report on achieving opportunity youth collaboration success through youth and adult engagement.

Youth Leadership Toolkit:
Search Institute

A comprehensive toolkit designed to help young people build leadership skills through structured activities and exercises.

Including Youth on Your Board, Commission, or Committee: the University of Kansas

Provides guidance and examples of supporting youth positions as full voting members on your official Board of Directors.

Podcast Resources

Break Away Podcast

This podcast offers ways to engage with the greater University of Michigan leadership community and a chance to break away from the new norms of our daily routines.

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OUTcast Podcast

This podcast features stories and insights from some of the most engaging, courageous, and inspiring LGBTQ+ people from all over the world,

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Web-based Resources

Youth Leadership Institute provides resources, training, and support to help youth develop leadership skills and advocate for community change.

Learn more: https://yli.org/
True Colors United implements innovative solutions to youth homelessness by focusing on the experiences of those most impacted —LGBTQ+ and BIPOC youth.

Learn more: https://truecolorsunited.org/
GLSEN provides resources and programs to empower LGBTQ students to become leaders in their schools and communities.
Learn more: https://www.glsen.org/resources/student-and-gsa-resources
The Trevor Project provides an online community for LGBTQ youth, providing a safe space for networking and leadership development.
Learn more: https://www.trevorspace.org/
Youth.gov provides a comprehensive guide to youth leadership programs, best practices, and toolkits for fostering leadership in youth experiencing homelessness and housing instability.
Learn more: https://youth.gov/
Youth Power Coalition HUB is a resource hub developed by and for young organizers centered specifically on the experiences of BIPOC and QT youth organizers.
Learn more: https://hub.youthpowercoalition.org/

Video Resources

Exploitation vs. Collaboration

This video is from a session at Point Source Youth’s Western Conference examines how youth exploitation shows up under the guise of collaboration and explores how to center youth voices with dignity.

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Working Across Movements to End Youth Homelessness

Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world.

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Youth-led Q&A Roundtable

This youth-led roundtable provides a learning space for providers to directly ask questions to expert youth consultants on meaningful youth collaboration, successful housing interventions, and accessible service provision.

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PSY Roundtable Talk: Direct Cash Transfers

This video explores how Youth Voice and Youth Collaboration is fundamental when implementing youth-centered solutions such as Direct cash transfers (DCT). DCT is anchored in its ability to be flexible, young people are offered choices on optional support services, payment delivery methods, frequency, communication preferences, and more. Championing housing stability and the power of young people, DCT equips young people with resources and tools to sustainably exit homelessness on their terms.

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