NYLI Pilot Program Energizes West Virginia Youth

CADCA's National Youth Leadership Initiative, traditionally offered at the Mid-Year Training Institute and National Leadership Forum, challenges youth to develop the necessary skills for significantly contributing to coalition work on the local and national level. Recently, CADCA expanded its youth engagement services by partnering with Community Connections, Inc. (CCI) to deliver the first year-long, statewide NYLI program in West Virginia.

The first cohort, comprised of 36 adult coalition advisors and 140 youth participants from 26 counties, convened from Nov. 4-7 at the Canaan Valley Resort and Conference Center in Davis, W.Va. Based on the National Coalition Academy model, the program will combine three three-day residential sessions with web-based distance learning through various multimedia communication channels to keep youth on the cutting edge of community dialogue and advocacy.

According to Kareemah Abdullah, Deputy Director of Training and Technical Assistance and Vice President of Training and Youth Programs for CADCA’s National Coalition Institute, the program provides youth with the necessary leadership skills to become active community change agents.

“The Academy is proven to enact population-level change and we knew that applying the model to an intelligent group of youth would have the ability to bring about the same results and cultivate community problem-solvers,” Abdullah said.

Over the course of the opening weekend, NYLI participants worked extensively with CADCA trainers and representatives from CCI and Michigan State University (MSU) to learn action strategies for addressing problems in their communities, such as crime and substance abuse.

In their first session, youth combined comprehensive work around coalitions’ core competencies with Photovoice, a methodology for grassroots social action through the use of photography and digital media taught by the MSU team.

Through careful instruction in the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF), CADCA’s cadre of adult and youth trainers taught participants the importance of leadership and data collection through thorough community assessment.

According to Dr. Pennie Foster-Fishman, MSU professor and NYLI Photovoice trainer, Photovoice empowers youth by allowing them to tell their community’s story through photography.

“Photovoice frees the youth in expressing themselves,” Foster-Fishman said. “The power of capturing images helps them clarify what they care about and articulate their community’s story.”

The team provided participants with digital cameras and information on their use in the program, including photography and ethics lessons. Foster-Fishman says youth will develop a sense of critical consciousness through Photovoice by framing their photography assignments through key questions concerning their communities. Critical dialogue will continue through online discussions and stories posted to participants’ multimedia blogging sites.

The data gained from the Photovoice projects allow youth to formulate “knowledge products,” such as websites and digital media exhibits, that link with a community assessment to tell the coalition story and develop an evidence-based plan for community change.

The success of this innovative curriculum will allow CADCA to learn how to incorporate Photovoice elements into its training processes for application in other training initiatives.

For Greg Puckett, Executive Director of CCI, the pilot program represents only the tip of the iceberg for positively engaging youth in community action. Participants receive a number of benefits that will help them on their career paths, including community service credit and scholarship funds should they decide to attend MSU.

“The youth were charged and geared up to make a difference when they left,” Puckett said. “As long as we keep energy high, by the end of the program youth will definitely come out as champions in their communities.”

For more information about the NYLI, visit www.cadca.org or call 1-800-54-CADCA, Ext. 233. Visit their Facebook page for more information about the first week of the program.