Capacity Building
Our capacity building work is designed to help organizations and other key stakeholders create the space for youth to develop and exercise leadership roles within their schools, their communities and their organizations. Through project-based collaborations, workshops , forums and presentations at professional conferences, we build awareness around youth issues and around how to work with youth in ways that provide the supports and opportunities they need to develop and exercise leadership.
Project-based collaborations
The UCCP systematically works with organizations that are seeking to promote authentic youth leadership both within those organizations and within the communities they serve. Through project-based collaborations, we employ an experiential learning approach to technical assistance across a broad spectrum of categories including: youth driven-project conceptualization, development, and implementation; youth leadership development; board development; youth led research; youth philanthropy; youth driven multi-media; and youth organizing, networking and coalition building. Through these project-based collaborations, which often involve members of our Leaders Corps as "trainers", we model what this approach looks like, thereby helping other organizations to more effectively recruit and engage older youth in their communities. We have worked with grass roots and citywide nonprofit organizations, youth councils, philanthropic organizations and educational institutions. The organizations/projects we have worked with include: YOUTHadelphia (The Philadelphia Foundation, Greater Philadelphia Federation of Settlements), The Red Cross, Eastern North Philadelphia Youth Services Coalition (Congresso), the Dwight Evans Civic Leadership Summit, Haddington Youth Council, among others.
Read about past & current collaborations
Workshops and Forums
Leaders Corps members and UCCP staff develop and conduct workshops and forums in various community, school, and university settings to increase awareness about opportunities for developing youth voice and the supports necessary for incorporating that voice into decision making processes. These workshops cover a range of topics identified by youth including: public speaking; creating safe, interactive spaces for real learning; developing youth driven processes; making "big" issues relevant to youth; youth-youth and mentor-to youth relationship building; and media as a tool for youth led change, among others. These workshops have been critical tools for engaging more youth, parents and other adults in our work and in becoming advocates for young people.
Professional Conferences
UCCP staff and members of the Leaders Corps are frequently invited to give presentations on the work that they do, as well as the issues that impact youth, at conferences and special events both within and beyond Philadelphia. Audiences for these presentations include policy makers, practitioners, academics, funders, youth, and media representatives. Presentation topics have included: media coverage of youth; violence and its impact on youth; and programming for and with youth.
List of past conferences & presentations
The exact format and content of UCCP workshops are tailored to audience interest and experience. To arrange for a workshop to meet the needs of your institution, organization or community group, or to arrange for the UCCP to participate in a conference, please contact:
Barbara Ferman
UCCP Director
215-204-6276
bferman@temple.edu