Welcome!

We have new opportunities for you! This quarter, new cohorts of young changemakers are stepping up to make a difference and work together on several of our initiatives. Meet our new Youth Advisory Group members and YouthLead Ambassadors, and learn about our new calls for support and applications. Plus, this month we are sharing resources to help you strengthen your systems and programming. 

Around the World with YouthPower

New YP2LE Youth Advisory Group Selected 
YP2LE selected five new young leaders, ages 21 to 27, from Albania, Cameroon, Nicaragua, Nepal, and the Philippines to join its next Youth Advisory Group (YAG). YAG members are selected through a highly competitive open call for application process. We received nearly 5,000 applications from around the world for five positions. Through five rounds of screening and interviews with the YP2LE Youth Engagement team, finalists were selected based on their demonstrated interest and commitment to advancing youth inclusion in development, and for the unique expertise they each bring to the project to support youth-led research, communities of practice, advocacy and communications, capacity strengthening, and more. Beginning in June 2022, YAG members will serve for 18 months and provide youth advising and support to YP2LE’s cross-cutting youth engagement strategy. Read more about the new YAG on YouthLead! 

Sixteen New YouthLead Ambassadors and Five Peer Advisors Welcomed to YP2LE!   
In June 2022, the fourth class of  YouthLead Ambassadors and five Peer Advisors (peer mentors) were selected following a highly competitive open call for application process. The YP2LE Youth Engagement team received more than 3,000 applications, and 16 Ambassadors were selected through four rounds of screening and interviews. Ambassadors are young changemakers who have demonstrated leadership and a commitment to problem solving in their communities. Over the course of their 18-month fellowship, Ambassadors design, manage, and implement a unique leadership project on a topic of their choice, with the guidance and support from their Peer Advisor. Ambassadors also build their professional network and engage in a series of learning activities aimed at building their knowledge of the development sector and their leadership skills. In addition, Ambassadors have a unique opportunity to engage in cross-cultural exchange with their fellow Ambassadors, Peer Advisors, and the YP2LE team, building their skills as global citizens. Read more about the YouthLead Ambassador program and the fourth class on YouthLead! 

Updates

How to Engage Youth in Conflict Situations  
Listen in on a timely, informative conversation on how implementers can keep programs responsive to youth and staff needs during times of conflict. We examine rapid program considerations and the dos and don’ts of working with youth in conflict situations and areas through a positive youth development lens. Plus, we get insight on USAID’s Ukraine National Identity Through Youth (UNITY) Activity and how one program is working with youth in Ukraine. 

Content warning: This episode contains a conversation about conflict areas/situations, trauma, mental health and psychosocial support, and how one program is working with youth in Ukraine. LISTEN NOW.

YouthLead Mentorship Initiative: Call for Support
YouthLead’s Mentorship Initiative connects young changemakers to content, learning resources, and mentorship networks to enhance leadership skills and support professional growth. A big part of that is identifying and sharing mentorship programs and networks to support the personal and professional goals of YouthLead members.

The YouthLead team is actively seeking information about mentorship programs from around the world to share with our network. If you have been a part of or know of a local, regional or global mentorship program or network that you would like to recommend to YouthLead, click here to fill out a short form. 

Youth Excel Hosting Photo Contest and Requests for Applications
Youth Excel is hosting two requests for applications in the month of July along with a photo contest. Please read on for more details. 

Photo Contest
Youth Excel is launching a six-week global photo competition to encourage youth (15-35 years old) from Africa, Asia, Europe and Eurasia, Latin America and the Caribbean and the Middle East and North Africa to share images reflecting five main themes: Youth Mental Health and Wellness, Youth at The Forefront of Economic Development, Youth and Decision-Makers at Work, Youth Driving Decisions Through Data, and Gender and Inclusion. The contest will run from June 6 to July 17, 2022. Contestants must submit original photos and own the rights to the photos. Please review the terms and conditions. APPLY.

Activity in Cambodia
The USAID Youth Excel: Our Knowledge, Leading Change program is pleased to announce a Request for Applications for a Local Implementing Partner (LIP) to co-lead the Youth Excel activity in Cambodia with the IREX Youth Excel Global team. The LIP will co-lead the Youth Excel Activity in Cambodia, conducting learning activities, engaging youth researchers and youth-led/youth-serving organizations, and mobilizing knowledge to help integrate youth priorities and voices in future development programming. SEE ELIGIBILITY.

Activity in Malawi
Youth Excel is seeking one to three local partners to co-lead activities in support of USAID/Malawi Mission’s Development Objective 2: Helping Malawi’s youth lead healthy, informed, and productive lives, while also enhancing the youth’s ability to collaborate, learn, and adapt across USAID’s Program Cycle. Learn more and apply by July 8. GET DETAILS.

Participate in a Community of Practice!
YP2LE's Communities of Practice (CoPs) are spaces where youth and youth-serving practitioners can come together to share ideas, tools, and build and test practical resources to advance PYD through collaboration, dialogue, and collective learning. These communities are free and open to all interested youth and youth-serving practitioners. Check out our upcoming events and webinars. Join one (or more!) of the six active CoPs today:

• Business, Entrepreneurship, and Private-sector Engagement (BEPSE) CoP: focused on building skills in entrepreneurship and on collaboration with the private sector. Open to all sectors, the CoP will have an emphasis on agriculture initially, adding other sectors such as health, education, or transport based on member interest and feedback. 
  • Research to Change: Localizing Youth Leadership in Implementation Research (July)
  • The BEPSE CoP will host a webinar on a youth-led labor market assessment case study. (August) More details to come.
• Youth Engagement CoP: focused on meaningful youth engagement in all aspects of programming. 
  • Research to Change: Localizing Youth Leadership in Implementation Research (July) 
• Gender CoP: focused on integrated youth-centered and gender transformative programming through PYD. 
• Higher Education Engagement and Transformation (HEET) CoP: focuses on engaging the international community to advance higher education and youth learning priorities and strengthening the link between PYD and sector programming through a systems-based approach. 
• Youth Systems Strengthening (YSS) CoP: focuses on providing an open learning and sharing space that allows participants to understand more about the purposes, processes and outcomes associated with reforming systems that impact youth outcomes sustainably and at scale. 
  • The YSS and MENA Youth CoPs will co-host an event with YouthPower Jordan. More details to come. (August)
• Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Youth CoP on YouthPower.org (English and Arabic): focuses on youth and youth-serving stakeholders supporting PYD in the MENA region. 

TIPS 

• Learn how to join a CoP and engage with its members.
• CoP members receive weekly notifications of ongoing activities from their registered communities. You can change the frequency of the notifications by adjusting the setting on your YouthPower.org profile.

Now Available

New Starter Kit Helps Implement Positive Youth Development Into Your Work
The Positive Youth Development (PYD) Starter Kit is now available at YouthPower.org. It connects implementers and youth practitioners to key resources for assessment and design, measurement, and learning. It also highlights ways that projects oftentimes foster youth engagement and different resources to help ensure your project is mindful of youth alongside other aspects of gender and social inclusion. If you want to better understand and/or integrate PYD into your team's work, this resource is a great start. DOWNLOAD NOW.

UPCOMING EVENTS

July 12: Future News Worldwide-FNW22 Virtual Summit
July 14: Localizing Youth Leadership in Implementation Research
Aug. 25: ChangeMakers'ON

For more information, visit the Events section on YouthPower.org.

NEW RESOURCES ON YOUTHPOWER.ORG

YP2LE Learning Resources

• Global LEAD Toolkit

Agriculture and Food Security

• Engaging Youth in Agriculture through Information and Communication Technologies
• Youth Excel Kisumu Data Summit: Enhancing Youth Work Readiness
• Landscape of Youth in Agriculture in Muhoroni sub-county, Kisumu, Kenya

Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance

• Youth and Peace Processes: Who’s in the Room? (Webinar and Recording)
• Youth Green Skills Accelerator Challenge Call

Economic Growth, Education, and Environment

• Understanding Youth Learning to Earning Journeys

Health

• Community Resilience and Health-seeking Behaviors among Adolescents and Young Adults: A Literature Review Brief
• Evidence-Based Community Resilience Interventions to Promote Health Outcomes and Health-Seeking Behaviors Among Adolescents and Young Adults: A Systematic Literature Review

Research

• Research to Change (R2C) Toolkit (Youth Excel)

Find more resources and events at YouthPower.org.

Would you like to suggest an event or resource to add to YouthPower.org? Do you have any feedback? Send an email to comms@youthpower.org.