The Youth of Today is delighted to launch a new report: Taking the lead: Youth leadership in theory and practice. The report is accessible by clicking here.

The report was authored by Lauren Kahn, Sarah Hewes and Rushanara Ali of the Young Foundation.

Taking the lead critically investigates youth leadership, bringing together experts’ views and best practice from around the world. Drawing on a large body of evidence, Taking the lead offers valuable lessons for both practitioners and policymakers.

Some of the report’s key findings include:

• The most effective way for young people to gain leadership skills is to have a chance to lead. This means that adults must cede or share power with young people – and this can often prove a difficult balance.
• Youth leadership is often seen as “good for young people” but less often thought of as “good for society” – and young people should be enabled and empowered to lead both adults and their peers.
• While there is no single model for best practice, there are certain ingredients that are common to successful leadership programmes. These programmes:
  • Engage young people in challenging action
  • Focus around issues that reflect their genuine needs
  • Offer authentic opportunities to make decisions and effect change
  • Provide an environment of support
  • Enable young people to reflect on their experiences.
  • Offer sustainable opportunities to stay involved as well as progression routes with support at all stages.

The research provides a robust grounding in best practice for the work of The Youth of Today programme.

Taking the lead is the first of three publications to be written by the Young Foundation as a part of The Youth of Today’s programme of global research into youth leadership. The next publication, due out in March 2010, will look at information and communication technologies as tools to enable youth leadership.