Research suggests that youth who are actively engaged in social change efforts have three core strengths:
Capacity: Knowledge, leadership and action skills.
Motivation: Understanding and awareness of issues and root causes, systems, strategies for change, commitment, and a sense of responsibility.
Opportunity: Chances to act on passions, use skills, and generate change through relevant sustained action.
These strengths do not occur by chance. Young people build skills, acquire passions, come to understandings and take on responsibilities for changing their worlds as they grow, learn and develop. Practice suggests that young people are most likely to develop these strengths when they are connected to programs and organizations that have effective youth engagement strategies explicitly designed to address these core needs.