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Youth Development
Seven Principles
of Youth Development
Young people are connected, safe, and welcomed at school, home, and in their community. Youth have multiple caring relationships with adults and their peers. Youth are given voice, with opportunities to have ideas heard and judged by peers and adults. Children and youth have meaningful opportunities for participation in their schools and communities. Young people have high expectations for themselves, and receive the opportunities and supports to achieve high standards of learning. Young people have experiential learning opportunities to develop and enhance their physical, cognitive, emotional, and social skills. Children and youth are exposed to positive social norms that facilitate engagement and learning, and reduce risk-taking behaviors.
What We Have Learned
The Foundation’s long history in youth development has taught us invaluable lessons about how young people become engaged and motivated – and therefore successful. We have experienced first-hand the transformative power of experiential learning and college access and success programs, and the importance of ensuring that the powerful elements of these efforts must be present in the classrooms, home life, and communities of all young people.
A Change in Direction
The Foundation has made a decision to focus our resources on projects and policies that have the potential for scale, sustainability, and system-wide impact for all young people in California and Washington.
Our experience has convinced us that no education system will reach its intended results without consideration for the entire dimension of a young person’s development. We have therefore included youth development principles in our criteria for partnering with districts and networks of schools, and expect these principles to be consciously and intentionally applied in the educational settings we support.
We do recognize that there remains great value, learning, and legacy in continuing to support selected youth development organizations which the Foundation has previously funded. To that end, the Foundation will invite and solicit very limited, targeted, and incisive grantmaking in this important field, and will no longer accept unsolicited inquiries for youth development programs.