Partnerships for Youth-Adult Partnerships
Sometime in the middle of February, I was finally able to watch the University of Minnesota Extension webinar “Preparing the Youth Development Professional for Current Issues in Developing Effective Partnerships”. The webinar listed four main components as part of the Partnership Mindset.
While I listened to the explanation of each, I asked two questions. First, was this new information or just too easy to forget information? My answer was, ‘too easy to forget’. Second, how were the key components in this partnership mindset for community partner outreach (working with adults) different from those we use in creating and maintaining Youth-Adult partnerships (working with youth)? I decided to share a series of examples to answer this question in which I also linked to interesting projects that illustrate my own experiences working to be a partner to Youth-Adult Partnerships.
Effective Relationship Skills
First, In Youth-Adult Partnership we speak often of supportive relationships. In my experience those relationships separate between the ‘parent/friend’ and the ‘mentor’. We want youth to know we are open to a back and forth that is respectful and meets their needs. We also want youth to know we participate in the space to increase their capacity within their determined areas of interest.
With adults we often spend time in organizational spaces being nice and making small talk without really learning what the individual might need. We also spend a great deal of time, ‘teaching’ without asking if the individual or organization wants this type of intervention. In my own programming I see this illustrated in opportunities as seemingly ‘small’ as inviting people to share ideas on social media or as large as providing opportunities to lead a session. The disconnect, in some ways, has both grown and lessened during COVID. Oftentimes our request had been ‘nice’, ‘gentle’, ‘encouraging’, but what the relationship needed was more than a polite invitation. The relationship required shared work time and a greater explanation of support was needed and when. With the added element of technology, we are often more understanding of anxiety and more likely to seek out possible barriers. This is illustrated in our support materials before and after virtual events like Fall Forum last November. Still, it means we also take for granted tasks we assume everyone is doing or has always been doing such as posting to a social media site for idea sharing.
Further Questions to Consider: What are the barriers/concerns that prevent engagement/non action? How often do we understand this about working with youth? How often do we forget this when working with our adult partners?
Transparent Communication
Closely tied to effective relationship skills is transparent communication. Communication methods were a concern of youth that was noted often when I completed focus groups during the first year of my position with the Division of Extension. It became evident that youth and adults did not have a common language, nor did they have a process for determining the purpose of many conversations. For that reason, this component is often the most difficult of the four. Why? The need for structure goes unacknowledged. I do not use the word structure to imply that there is a right way. I use structure as a foundation created by a definition in common of ‘our’ way. As part of the Virtual Learning Community committee, we have the opportunity to ‘champion’ submitted sessions. This is always a learning experience for me. And it is an example of how important structuring communication is for success as a partner for Youth-Adult Partnership. ‘Champions’ provide ideas to leaders of sessions about what we might talk about in connecting sessions prior, but I always refer to the guiding document each time. It allows me to not forget the key pieces of my responsibility and also to be clear and consistent with the roles I am looking to play. As a result, the knowledge multiplies, skills are shared and all participants feel valued and heard not evaluated.
Further Questions to Consider:
What skills and intention do others already have? What are some strategies to describe all assets in language we both understand? What are ways to describe what we have identified as gaps we can fill? How do I elevate or connect skills and intention for others’ learning?
Adaptability
Adaptability is a component we hear often, almost a buzz word of sorts. When we hear the word so often in our professional circles, it becomes assumed that adults have a common understanding of this word. “Of course, we must be adaptable. Things don’t always work out. We have to make changes.”
Yet, the resulting negative feelings, especially throughout the pandemic in varying programs, suggests adults may not actually believe it. When we don’t believe it, we are not good partners to Youth-Adult Partnership. We aren’t celebrating change, and youth are watching. We’re disappointed, and youth are leading. I posted previously many positive examples of this. Youth are also not as tied to ‘the way things have always been’ or as those who discuss youth advocacy note, “youth have less to lose”. Adult to adult and organization to organization, we can change our statements and our tone. We can alter expectations without losing, because what we win is the opportunity to continue. I have found this to especially be true when reaching out to provide new opportunities. One example is a mental health organization that for the past four months had to continually tweak a grant opportunity. I am so proud that instead of stopping or labeling the work as failure, they have continued and reframed as the opportunity to promote not only their group but the content for the grant, Suicide Prevention.
Further Questions to Consider
What are our individual goals? Where do they come together in a shared goal? What roles and responsibilities are there? Which ones should I take on? Which ones are better served by others’ resources? What is gained when I change?
Persistent Effort
Lastly, I return to the first component on the list during the webinar. Within our own anxiety to show progress, the subtle importance of this component is often overlooked. Ironically, only weeks before I had attended a panel presenting for a project exploring the idea of community savings accounts to support youth next steps past high school. This panel had consisted of presenters sharing their experiences as Native Americans connecting with educational institutions. Part of their focus was on how organizations might better connect. “Be politely persistent,” one speaker had said. With youth, we often describe this act as ‘checking in’ or ‘letting young people know we are there for them’. Persistent effort was a crucial piece of my work since the pandemic began with adults and organizations. This effort is the forgiveness I give myself and others working in organizations for having many, often too many, things to do. This effort is not to be equated with frustration, nor failure to connect. This effort is in fact, the connection that will provide the base for future action.
Further Questions for Consideration:
How do I define ‘need’? When I sense urgency, what is contributing to this feeling? Is it need? Is it a perceived understanding of others’ actions?
Building spaces and relationships are not confined to age nor number of participants. The components from the webinar speak to that. The following resources were provided by the University of Minnesota Extension Center for Youth Development Brown Bag Webinar series. You can watch the webinar here https://mediaspace.umn.edu/media/1_8947n10j or use the tools provided below.
Resources
Guide to Ensuring the Keys to Effective Partnerships https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Uy56hFXwRZQukb7nqAYWkrA-PE4q3WI0 It is important to identify the reason for a partnership as well as recognize where in development the partnership is. This document provides questions to guide partnerships with community organizations, schools and government entities. The questions are designed to help focus attention on components of an effective partnership at each stage of development.
Key Benefits of Partnering with 4-H Youth Development https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Uy56hFXwRZQukb7nqAYWkrA-PE4q3WI0 As you explore the tabs of Community Youth Development programming you will find the idea of connection a common theme. CYD recognizes that youth services and programming as well as all spheres in which youth interact are part of a community’s youth development culture. This document identifies key areas around which 4-H programming specifically can make connections within and between communities and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Assessing a Partnership Worksheet https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Uy56hFXwRZQukb7nqAYWkrA-PE4q3WI0 This document is the beginning of a conversation to determine the current and future status of a partnership. Just as successful youth workers must be transparent with the youth they serve and support, so do adults and organizations need to consistently have the same type of evaluative conversation.
For those who are looking for new frameworks upon which to build and maintain relationships within teams and partnerships, a colleague recently shared the following webinar This session combines the idea of Brave and Safe Spaces with “Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds” by Adrienne Maree Brown. Another recommendation is “The Little Book of Race and Restorative Justice” by Fania E. Davis. This book does center the Black experience and action steps for the Black community but it also centers our choices and asks us to question which strategies we are using and to what end.
