Youth Driven Spaces start herE
Youth Driven Spaces (YDS) puts young people and adults on equal footing, and teaches them how to work as partners to strengthen youth voice, lead programs and organizations, and make decisions that matter together.
Inside the YDS universe, you’ll be surrounded by dynamic youth-serving professionals who will support, challenge, and inspire you through the process.
Introductory trainings
All trainings available remote or in person
What is a Youth Driven Space?
1 hour
Materials included: YDS Formative Index
Discover the essential elements of a Youth Driven Space.
Explore how to strengthen youth-driven practices at both the program and organizational levels.
Employ the YDS Formative Index to identify your initial goals for increasing youth voice, leadership, and decision-making in your organization.
Youth Driven SpaceS CORE
3.5 hours, or three 90 minute sessions
Materials included: YDS Community Building Guidebook
Youth Driven Spaces rests on three core tenets:
Fostering young people’s intrinsic motivation
Building meaningful youth–adult partnerships
Creating high-quality developmental opportunities for youth to thrive
The 3.5 hour training explores each tenet, connects it to relevant theory, and offers practical strategies that you can use to strengthen your programs. This training can also be offered in 90 minute sessions, one per tenet.
Restorative Practices and Circles: Proactive Strategies for Out-of-School Time
1 day
Guidebooks included; Community Building, Restorative Practices Theory & Strategy, and Circles
What are restorative practices, and how can you use them to proactively build and sustain community and relationships? You will explore community-building approaches, communication tools, and the history and practical use of proactive circles.
Designing Active, Engaging Youth–Adult Meetings
90 minutes
Materials included: Community Building Guidebook, and practical tools and templates for designing active meeting agendas, participatory planning, and reflection strategies
Create energizing meetings! We’ll reflect on what makes meetings effective, explore key components of an active meeting, and design a meeting that intentionally includes community building, cooperative learning, and purposeful reflection.Together, we’ll examine how young people can co-lead, facilitate, and support meetings, with the goal of incorporating youth voice and leadership into both the process of the meeting and its outcomes.
“I’m always left with more confidence and more tools to implement in my work… it’s not just theory, you walk out with practical ways to change how you work.”
— Program participant
Get In Touch
Explore all the free resources we have available! When you’re ready to discuss pricing and availability, please reach out by email using this form.