By Chelsea Pallatino Trevelline, Senior Specialist, Research, Evaluation, and Learning

Working on YP2LE has been a wonderful opportunity for me. Not only because I am a monitoring, evaluation, research, and learning (MERL) professional and a good portion of the activity is about uncovering knowledge gaps in positive youth development (PYD), conducting research and evaluations, and sharing findings, but also because as the activity progressed, we applied what we learned in real time.  The integration of newfound knowledge into this activity has been integral to how we have carried out this work for the past decade. 

We built on the work of YouthPower Learning’s PYD Learning Agenda to help fill in the knowledge gaps on the questions: How do PYD programs achieve positive impact in low- and middle-income countries? What is the cross-sectoral impact of PYD? How do we measure PYD? What does PYD mean and how can we promote PYD for underserved populations of youth? And how do we engage youth meaningfully in PYD? 

To answer these questions, we have created a variety of insightful evidence-based resources. Some resources are referred to on a continual basis, like the PYD Measurement Toolkit (developed under YouthPower Learning but serves as the foundation for a new PYD MERL Toolkit that is being finalized), the Integrating Mental Health and Psychosocial Support into Youth Programming, and the Youth and Gender Analysis Toolkits. We have created communities of practice (CoPs) and delivered webinars and symposiums to share our findings and those from other projects. YP2LE has become one of the “go-to” resources for information on PYD and not just for USAID and implementing partners, but for our global youth community as well.  

I’m proud of what we have accomplished in this area, and I enjoy finding the answers and disseminating our findings to other PYD champions. It is important work. But what really excites me is seeing PYD firsthand, when I have the privilege to work directly in partnership with youth. YP2LE has afforded me that opportunity. YP2LE worked with youth regularly, as both participants and partners on our research teams who meaningfully engaged across the design, implementation, analysis, and writing processes. 

To facilitate youth engagement on the MERL side, we were able to train young people in various research skills. Often, they were not on a MERL career path, but the experience helped to strengthen their critical thinking and problem-solving skills. They became comfortable with what questions to ask and how to actively listen to better understand the perspectives of research participants, who were often other youth. They learned about how to follow up to gain clarity and interpret information and data. Seeing that learning in real time has been inspiring! When you love your work, by collaborating in direct partnership, you are able to share that knowledge with and gain new perspectives from someone, and that leaves an impact.  

Throughout the project, we have heard and seen that youth are ready for opportunities to be in the driver’s seat. They want opportunities to lead, design, implement, strengthen skills, and learn, not only for themselves, but also to give back to their communities. Too often we are guilty of making assumptions about what youth can handle and whether they can really contribute in a meaningful way. I had an experience with a youth researcher I was supporting ask to talk to me and the researcher shared with me that they felt underestimated and that they could take on and lead more work if we instilled our trust in this individual. I have so much respect for them for having this conversation with me and sharing openly and honestly how they felt about their engagement. It can be difficult to advocate for yourself. This was a real a-ha moment for me and has changed the way I approach engaging youth in research processes. I think through the work of YP2LE, others have also learned how they may have also underestimated the potential of youth. But over the course of 10 years, since YouthPower Learning was launched, we have seen a shift. We now realize and advocate for youth to lead this work, much like the change they are already leading on the ground in their local communities. YP2LE underscored for me that a fresh perspective, willingness to learn, and eagerness to do can be equal to years of experience, especially when it comes to improving your life and your community. Simply put, youth are already developing and being the change that they want to see in their communities, the question is, how do we want to support them?