Empowering

YMCA Future Changemakers

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2021-2022

DFA Rice

Rhea Rungta

Katherine Hui

Mason LaFerney

Brianna Bukowski

Elise Erickson

Project Overview

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Let’s equip young, diverse changemakers with the resources needed to implement the change they wish to see.

Youth Empowerment in Houston

5,424

50

8,800

Youth Changemakers empowered

Sources: The YMCA Houston

Kids enrolled in summer programs

In 2020, YMCA of Greater Houston accounts for:

Teens served in Y Teen L.I.F.E.

YMCA Greater Houston

• Impacted/engaged with 177,000+ families
• 5,424 teens served in Y Teen L.I.F.E
• Focused on inspiring youth to thrive, ending isolation, fighting inequality, reimagining opportunities, and restoring hope and well-being
• Houston is one of the “youngest, fastest-growing and most diverse populations anywhere in the world.”

Youth Changemakers

• The definition of a changemaker is catered towards young adults.

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Target audience:

• Teens (16-18)
• College students (18-21)
• Young professionals (22-35)

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• Students who want to make a difference in their communities and take their passions to the next level

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How can we empower YMCA youth in their communities to be changemakers?

How can we activate youth from being only participants to active contributors long-term?

How can we better promote YMCA programming to a diverse youth audience?

EMPOWERING YOUTH CHANGEMAKERS

YMCA Leadership:

• Adriana Stanovici (YMCA USA)
• Derek Summerville (YMCA USA)
• Amanda Trask (Old Colony YMCA)
• Taisha White (Old Colony YMCA)
• Kate Gross (YMCA of the Triangle)
• Denby Holloman (YMCA of the Triangle)
• Trish Kitchell (YMCA Cincinnati)
• YMCA Greater Houston
• Jose Rivera
• Gloria Guzman
• Kashala Pope
• Kyndhal Stewart

STAKEHOLDERS CONTACTED

YMCA Youth:

• Sebastian Cruz (YMCA Colombia)
• Houston Y Youth Council (4 local teens)
• Kidz Konnect (Old Colony YMCA Youth Council)
• Testing Sessions
• 2/24: 3 youth, 1 staff
• 3/10: 1 youth, 1 staff

• What strengths do you see in YMCA’s current methods of encouraging youth community engagement? What do you see as potential opportunities for improvement?
• Looking back at approaches your chapter has made thus far regarding youth community engagement, what sorts of lessons have you learned advancing into this issue? What are some of your personal experiences of how things have changed?

INTERVIEW QUESTIONS (STAFF)

• How do youth members take part in YMCA’s mission of addressing issues of mental health, climate change, food insecurity, health and racial disparities, and other related issues? If engagement in this sector is limited, is there any room to enhance youth involvement in addressing these disparities?
• How does your chapter promote leadership programs to a diverse youth audience?
• Are there any existing programs or initiatives offered to youth members targeted at advocacy education?

• What was your journey or story to becoming involved in leadership roles at the Y in Houston?
• What makes an experience at the Y memorable for you and how do you define success?
• How can the Y be more inclusive towards/promote youth leadership?

INTERVIEW QUESTIONS (YOUTH)

• What are some challenges you’ve faced so far during your time with the Y?
• Are there any logistical issues that may have prevented you from pursuing a leadership role or action (time conflicts, etc.)?
• What topics are you most passionate about and how does or doesn’t the Y enable you to follow these passions?
• How has the Y shaped your perspective of your community and your outlook toward making change?

Interview Insights

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Difficulty targeting teen, young adult, and college-age youth

Lost of past grassroots connection

Finding a more holistic approach that incorporates youth perspectives

OVERALL PROBLEM SPACES

Kashala Pope

Executive Director of Youth Leadership, Greater Houston YMCA

Gloria Guzman

Youth Development Director, Greater Houston YMCA

• Support youth leadership for teens to young adults
• College preparedness (Young Achievers)
• Civic engagement (Mock UN, Youth in Government, Changemakers)
• Equity Innovation Center
• Values creating space for marginalized voices

• Works within the Equity Innovation Center
• Wants to work on youth long-term return rate (including more teenagers)
• Is involved with YMCA Houston’s Courageous Conversation Series targeted at providing youth with a space to discuss various current topics.

YMCA Houston Leadership - Interview Insights

YMCA Greater Houston has a wide-reaching impact,

• 100 youth/day Pre-COVID for one of several locations in Houston
• At one point, YMCA Greater Houston serviced over 1 million individuals at 40+ sites

• Programming hasn’t changed in a long time
• Difficult to implement new programs to evolve youth programming

but lacks ability to track progress.

Key Takeaways: Y Youth Council (YYC) Houston

Interviewed 4 teens part of different youth programs (Young Achievers and Youth in Government)

CHALLENGES

• Biggest roadblock/difficulty:
• Public speaking and shyness

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• Ways Y can improve:
• Organization and outreach for events
• Awareness gap of programs

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• Y helped broaden the youths perspectives about what Houston has to offer and the diversity in the city
• Reinforced the idea that anyone can make change in their community

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IMPACT

RESULTS

• Memorable experience =
• “...just talk to people and make friends from a completely different group of people”
• Success = key takeaways and accomplishing personal goals

Key Takeaways: Sebastián Cruz | Y Colombia

• Describe your transition from being a Y participant to an employee.
• Triangulación - Y Colombia
• Structure for youth to advance and gain a new “triangle” for each year volunteering and spending hours going through the program and making social impact
• Red = 4th year, eligible to be part of the executive board
• Ensures young voices are heard and part of decision making
• How can the Y be inclusive towards/promote youth leadership more?
• “Y needs to adapt to its demographics to really stay relevant and be a safe space for young people.”
• Define success at Y Colombia
• “If people cry at end of summer camp, we did a good job.”

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Key Takeaways: Sebastián Cruz | Y Colombia

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Youth are often very underestimated, but at the Y they're encouraged to be real leaders and changemakers.

PROBLEM SPACES AT THE LOCAL LEVEL

How can we be more intentional with tracking data and demographics?

How can we design programs for equity and make opportunities more accessible?

How can we build the infrastructure to support more diverse youth to get involved in leadership?

staff-driven problem space

staff-driven problem space

youth-driven problem space

Lilith Sue

User Persona

Youth Changemaker

Age: 17

Location: La Promesa - Aldine ISD

*school for students who've moved to the United States in the last three years

Motivations

• Hopes to be a part of a new community in Houston
• Wants to voice concerns and initiate change, but doesn’t know how to start
• Grow leadership skills
• Increase social capital
• Wants a structured path to leadership

Interests

• Involved in Youth in Government
• Wants to engage directly with people impacted by issues they’re addressing
• Immigration, helping underserved communities (women, minorities, youth), mental health

Concerns/challenges

• Typically has to pay for teen programs
• Needs better promotion of events and organization
• Does not have easy access to a car

User Journey

Youth to Staff

Join as teen participant

Become engaged in teen leadership opportunities

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E.g. Y Teen Life, Youth in Government

E.g. Y Youth Council, leadership/event planning within Y Teen Life

Become engaged in overall Y leadership opportunities

Become Y Staff

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E.g. Y Board, get involved in broader programming and creation

E.g. Youth Ambassadors Program Director, Youth Development Programming

How can we intentionally track data to help guide our process of building infrastructures to support a more diverse youth audience in leadership?

Building Infrastructures for

Equity and Accessibility

• Tailoring programs to specific issues youth are interested in
• Creating open spaces to discuss and debate over issues of interest (political, mental health, environmental, etc.)

• Adapting programs to meet youth needs/challenges (ex. immigration status, financial barriers, transportation)
• “Any barrier that we can address within our power, we try to exhaust all our resources for youth.”

• Connecting with more stakeholders and broadening outreach → building relationships with teens AND parents/schools

Tracking Data and Demographics

Intentionally

• A system written in place to measure concrete progress and youth engagement
• Goal: track progress on a scale meeting the magnitude Y Greater Houston serves

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• Success = young people showing up and taking initiative beyond the Y when they aren’t presented with opportunities directly

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• Having more conversations asking about the difference these programs have on their lives
• “The best form of gathering data is informal conversations-- collecting data, stories, experiences.”

Overall Insights

Youth are interested in a diverse range of topics including mental health, gun violence, the environment, accessibility, health care, and poverty.

Barriers to entry for youth leadership positions are adultism, logistics, legal policy & procedural limitations, and the transient nature of youth.

Programs are impactful, but youth are often not active contributors in decision-making at highers level over the long term.

Short Term:

1. Increasing number of youth who join leadership programs by 10%
2. Increasing retention rate for youth already involved in leadership program/training by 40%

MEASURES OF SUCCESS

Long-Term:

1. Increasing rate for youth who took up a leadership position or engaged in a new initiative for social impact by 20%
2. Increasing the total number of youth who participate in Y-leadership by 20%

Short Term:

• Youth feel more comfortable and empowered to participate in YMCA programs and approach leadership with their ideas
• Youth establishing strong, trusting relationships with staff and feeling a sense of community and belonging at the Y
• Youth seize opportunities to give back to the Y or their community

DESIGN GOALS

Long-Term:

• Youth voices in all levels of YMCA Changemaking leadership, are readily able to make significant contributions to programming
• Youth programming is accessible and well-known to youth throughout Houston

Ideation

Tracking, surveys, feedback forms

Activate Sessions

School Partnerships

Interview staff, feedback for reaching diverse audience

Examine effectiveness of existing methods

Mentorship programs

Tracking, surveys, feedback forms

Activate Sessions

School Partnerships

Interview staff, feedback for reaching diverse audience

Examine effectiveness of existing methods

Mentorship programs

BUILD: 5 E’s

Entice

Enter

Engage

Exit

Extend

Entice - (convincing people to engage)

Promote to current Y youth (gym-goers and those in programs)

Partner with schools/counselors

Topic-specific “Office Hours”

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Enter - (providing resources to engage)

Sign-up forms with QR code

Pre-meeting surveys

Provide resources on how to further develop ideas

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Engage - (curating the experience)

Informal conversations/setting

Loose agenda

Separate sessions for online vs in-person

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Exit - (wrapping-up the experience)

Meeting notes that can be sent

Concrete action items

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Exit surveys to garner reactions

Extend - (pulling people to come back)

Newsletter/text system to remind about the next meeting

Ensuring youth mark their calendars

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Guiding questions for the next session

User Journey

Youth Changemakers in YMCActivate

Entice

See poster on topic of interest (eg mental health), decide to see what YMCActivate can offer

Enter

Scan QR code to get more info and sign-up via google form

Engage

Following loose agenda, have conversations around mental health and how to make a difference in your community

Exit

Come away with action items, resources, connections;

Exit surveys for feedback

Extend

Mark calendar for next session, start thinking about guiding questions for next session

LOW/MID-FIDELITY PROTOTYPES

FEEDBACK

QR code

YMCA branding + colors

Arrows = “movement”

YMCActivate!

Benefit statement

Short tagline

Fewer words

FINAL PROTOTYPES

Visual depth

Consistent with

YMCA identity

Visual/conceptual play on words

5 E’s & “momentum” concept

Interest Form:

1. Description of Program
2. Name
3. Are you involved in any other YMCA programs?
4. Are you interested in joining via Zoom or in-person?
5. What are your primary areas of interest? (checklist)
6. What are some of your current goals for getting involved in the program? (checklist)
7. Any other questions/comments you would like to add?

• 6 main parts:
• Introduction (5 minutes)
• Structured Activities (25 minutes)
• Q&A (5 minutes)
• Wrap-up (5 minutes)
• Activate Time (20 minutes)
• Youth-centered
• Free-flowing, flexible
• Applicable for online and in-person sessions

IMPLEMENTATION GUIDE

• Includes information on who is involved
• Roles of those individuals
• How to recruit as well as examples
• Template for connecting with schools

Thank you!

Appendix