Youth Service
Leveraging the Potential of Youth Service: A Call to Action
CELO is proud to partner with The Allstate Foundation in their efforts to empower youth to serve and improve communities.
The first portion of this partnership brought together a cross-sector, intergenerational fellowship that generated a new definition and model of service for contemporary society co-created by youth, scholars, and service-centered organizations. Through this partnership and in collaboration with over 3,000 young people and service leaders from across the United States, Leveraging the Potential of Youth Service introduces a new definition, model, and design considerations to guide the next decade of youth-led, youth-driven service.
“Accelerating youth-led, youth-driven service is essential because it cultivates a greater sense of agency, purpose and connectedness. Youth need to be involved in all aspects of service, from research and governance of service-organizations to design and delivery of programs and funding decisions. Our goal is to spur more youth-led, youth-driven efforts across the nation. We know from our research that today’s young people want these types of programs, and we’re excited to help meet that challenge.”
Greg Weatherford II
Director, The Allstate Foundation and Social Impact
In Our Own Voices: Youth Perspectives on Community Service
In Our Own Voices serves as a companion publication to Leveraging the Potential of Youth Service. It builds on these core concepts by bringing to life youth realities, reflections, and aspirations for community service and its role in our lives and broader society. It also captures and expands on four core areas that youth are particularly invested in as it relates to our evolving understandings of service: (1) Youth-led, youth-driven, (2) Access, (3) Mentorship, & (4) Sustainable community engagement.
“When we remove this kind of traditional idea of service – like service being limited to volunteering – then we reshape it into more than just individual moments. It becomes inclusive of people having the courage to get involved in a movement that’s bigger than just them. When that sense of purpose is driven through those everyday heroes that we uplift, I think service becomes more powerful to the heart and the mind for young people.”
Trey Baker
Scholastic Corporation
Resource Library
The Youth Service Resource Library is a collection of resources such as guidance documents, research, tools, and websites to consider when designing delivering, and engaging in youth-led, youth-driven service experiences.
If you have a resource you would like us to consider for inclusion in the Resource Library, please email info@expandingleadership.org
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The Allstate Foundation
In support of The Allstate Foundation‘s youth empowerment strategy, the Center for Expanding Leadership & Opportunity (CELO) has partnered with them to (re)define youth service for a new generation and empower youth to serve and improve communities.