Exploring the Role of a Youth Consultant in Youth Engagement and Development

Like many other types of consulting, youth consulting is simply someone who advises organizations on how to reach out to youth and how to engage and bridge the gap between youth and their communities. Let me break it down a bit more.

Youth consulting is all about:

• Bridging the gap between organizations and youth aged 18-30.

• Acting as the go-between for non-profits and youth.

• Crafting strategies to get youth involved in your community.

• Finding unique ways to start discussions with youth.

Learning about youth’s wants and needs and understanding how they engage with their community.

I work alongside organizations to help them evaluate their current levels of youth engagement, better understand why and how they want to engage youth and take action toward building ties with youth in their community. That’s not all – I am there every step of the way, finding unique and creative ways to get youth into your organization and helping you incorporate their feedback into your decision-making process.  

The recent trends show that there is a growing gap or disconnect if you will, between youth and their communities. On the one hand, you have organizations that need support, donations, volunteers and skills, and then you have youth who want to help, make an impact and offer their time or skills and neither one knows how to communicate with the other. That’s where I come in.

I am there to bridge that gap. To show young people that yes there are organizations out there that want you to be a part of their community. To show organizations that youth are not apathetic, that they care and want to get involved.

I develop strategies and help organizations implement them in different ways they can reach youth.

So why do I do it? Because your organization can benefit from youth engagement. Here’s how:

• Forward-thinking ideas

• New perspectives

• Fresh ideas

• Renewed energy and enthusiasm

• Build long-term support sustainably

The truth is you need youth. Youth will bring new ideas that will set you apart from the rest. They have answers and questions that will propel your organization forward – they are thinking about what tomorrow will look like. They are thinking about how things are going to look in 20 years, and if you engage them, they’ll stand side by side with you as things change, grow and evolve.