Increasing Youth Engagement in Community Heritage and Social Justice through Implementation of a Youth Participatory Empowerment Model

Youth in traditionally marginalized communities are often the target of policies and practices without the opportunity to provide input. This article highlights effective strategies to empower youth to become active participants in their communities. Using a Youth Participatory Empowerment Model (YPEM), youth participants from six demographically distinct communities engaged in YPEM-supported activities and strategies to identify and address a need within their community. To gain insight into successful strategies, qualitative data from pre and post implementation focus group interviews and observational field notes informed the conclusions. The participant youth represent tribal, undocumented, rural, suburban, and urban youth from underserved populations. The model works to cultivate youth voice, engagement, and empowerment and to assist mentors in the process. For youth to find success in engaging with community programing, trust and safety, strong partnerships, multi-generational mentorship, and strong youth leadership are pertinent. The study provides narrative results of the group functionality during the program.