Tools and Resources

Occasional Paper Series

A series of papers aiming to capture and document growing knowledge around youth organizing, and address key issues and questions commonly posed by funders and practitioners about the work and field overall. For a list and summary descriptions of our Occasional Paper Series see below.

Building Transformative Leadership: Data on the Impacts of Youth Organizing

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By Dr. Seema Shah

OPS 11: Building Transformative Youth Leadership: Data on the Impacts of Youth Organizing illustrates the power that youth organizing, specifically organizing for education reform, has on young people – from increasing their sense of self-efficacy and strengthening their leadership capacity, to increasing their collective power, academic motivation, and future commitment to civic engagement.  Drawing on six years of data, OPS 11 expands on our most recent OPS issue “Building a Pipeline for Justice”, which underscores the importance of developing a pathway for young people to sustain the social justice movement.

Building a Pipeline for Justice: Understanding Youth Organizing and the Leadership Pipeline

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By Dr. Shawn Ginwright
 

OPS 10: Building a Pipeline for Justice: Understanding Youth Organizing and the Leadership Pipeline aims to capture the challenges and opportunities of building a Leadership Pipeline, with youth organizing as a critical starting point, for a more robust and sustainable social justice movement.

Urban Transformations: Youth Organizing in Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, and Washington, DC

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By Kohei Ishihara. Occasional Paper No. 9. January 2007.
Author Kohei Ishihara takes a compelling look at youth organizing in the major metropolitan areas of the Northeast —home to the largest concentration of young organizing groups in the nation. Click here to download a tip sheet on using OPS no. 9 Urban Transformations: Youth Organizing in Boston, New York City, Philadelphia & Washington, DC to generate support for youth organizing.

Traditions and Innovations: Youth Organizing in the Southwest

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By Daniel HoSang. Occasional Paper No. 8. September 2005.
Daniel HoSang transports readers to a Southwestern landscape—beautiful and culturally rich on one hand, and historically oppressive and contentious on the other—to reveal youth organizing that draws heavily on tradition, yet is boldly innovative in its approaches.

At A Crossroads: Youth Organizing in the Midwest

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By Melissa Spatz. Occasional Paper No. 7. September 2005. 

Melissa Spatz challenges the notion of a homogenous Midwest to map the contours of a growing and increasingly varied youth organizing field in and beyond Chicago.

A New Generation of Southerners: Youth Organizing in the South

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By Charles Price and Kim Diehl. Occasional Paper No. 6. September 2004.
Describes the sociopolitical and historical backdrop of efforts by youth and their communities to build hope and local power for social change and justice, and how local and regional dynamics have shaped those organizing efforts.

The West Coast Story The Emergence of Youth Organizing in California

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A series of papers aiming to capture and document growing knowledge around youth organizing,  and address key issues and questions commonly posed by funders and practitioners about the work and field overall.

An Annotated Bibliography on Youth Organizing

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A series of papers aiming to capture and document growing knowledge around youth organizing,  and address key issues and questions commonly posed by funders and practitioners about the work and field overall.

Youth Organizing Expanding Possibilities for Youth Development

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A series of papers aiming to capture and document growing knowledge around youth organizing,  and address key issues and questions commonly posed by funders and practitioners about the work and field overall.

Youth and Community Organizing Today

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A series of papers aiming to capture and document growing knowledge around youth organizing,  and address key issues and questions commonly posed by funders and practitioners about the work and field overall.

An Emerging Model for Working with Youth

Download  (188 KB)

A series of papers aiming to capture and document growing knowledge around youth organizing,  and address key issues and questions commonly posed by funders and practitioners about the work and field overall.