Youth development leadership (YDL) understands leadership as a practice everyone does every day, regardless of age. You will be invited to reflect on your own leadership experiences within a learning community that includes fellow students, community practitioners, and faculty. You will learn about your own leadership, deepen your understanding of the young people you work with, and expand your connection within the larger youth work community both locally and globally. You will be invited to think critically about how communities often understand and respond to young people and work to create innovative interventions for young people in schools, community organizations, and the workplace that challenge these typical understandings and create opportunities for young people to fully flourish. How can we collaborate with young people when responding to the most pressing current issues and needs? What organizational structures and strategies support and sustain young people's authentic and meaningful involvement in inclusive, socially just, and equitable opportunities? How can organizations, schools, and communities transform to provide developmentally rich and meaningful opportunities for young people?

Utilizing the most current understanding of youth development joined to issues of inclusion, equity, and social justice, you will graduate with the necessary knowledge and skills to work collaboratively, think critically, and act intentionally to create sustainable opportunities for young people and their communities. By the time you graduate, you will know what it takes to effectively partner with young people and to transform youth-serving organizations to better respond to all young people and the communities they live in.

The YDL M.Ed. emphasizes:

• A community-based model of positive youth development;

• Experiential learning models;

• Leadership and community building by encouraging consultation among faculty, professional youth workers, fellow students, and young people;

• Diverse, flexible, and interdisciplinary faculty and curriculum that provide an informed understanding of practices, policies, and ethics of youth development work;

• Positive professional development;

• Collaborative approach to learning;

• Interdisciplinary curriculum;

• Cohort of other youth work professionals, for supportive learning environment;

• Diverse faculty dedicated to healthy youth development and committed to helping students develop a course of study that meets their professional and personal needs and interests.

Intake: Fall and Spring