Youth Leadership Initiative (YLI)
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Youth Leadership Initiative
BIG HAIRY AUDACIOUS GOAL (BHAG): Take a deep dive into the BHAG here! A Big Hairy Audacious Goal should make your stomach drop for its pure audacity and simultaneously make your heart race in joy at the challenge. Our BHAG in the NOW District for raising youth as servant-leaders is this: Every Youth. Every Ministry. Gospel Responsibility. “Every Youth” is as open as each leader or ministry desires. This means, depending on your own local context, that children certainly can be included! “Every Ministry” means not only every congregation but also every early childhood center, every school, every outdoors ministry, and so forth. “Gospel” or “Good News” indicates that all behavior as followers of Jesus can be motivated and infused with His Good News.
3 METRICS: Take a deep dive into the 3 Metrics here! A central focus of the YLI includes three key practices for cultivating servant-leaders:
Know the Person
Name the Gift
Find the Next Yes!
GET FOCUSED! Take a deep dive into the Key Behavioral Themes here!
GET RESOURCED!
- The Know Name Journal: A Field Guide for Creating a Yes! Culture. This bullet journal/planner resource helps leaders record their connections with youth while tracking progress toward the goal of “every youth, every ministry, Gospel responsibility.”
- Podcast interview with Tim Ahlman from the Unite Leadership Collective. NOW DCEs Jonathan Kopecky and Jackie Druckhammer, who are on the YLI Leadership Team, unveiled the key findings from the report and why they are so important. Click here or watch the video below!
- YLI Guidelines and Best Practices Info Sheet
- YLI Printable Info Sheet/Flyer
- “Hear and Share the Next Yes!” online check-in, held on the second Thursday of each month. These Zoom gatherings offer a chance to hear inspiring stories from leaders who are raising up the next generation.
GET SUPPORT! REGIONAL YLI NETWORK LEADERS:
Team Lead: Jonathan Kopecky
Team Admin: Jackie Druckhammer
GO ON A DEEP DIVE!
– The Youth Leadership Initiative (YLI) Report Survey Findings. This is the document that shapes all of our practices.
STORIES AND METRICS ACROSS THE NOW DISTRICT: More on this soon.
THE HISTORY OF THE YOUTH LEADERSHIP INITIATIVE
– NOW LI and the YLI: The Youth Leadership Initiative (YLI) Report is a resource designed to cultivate and raise up new servant-leaders in the NOW District and across the LCMS. It brings real data gathered and interpreted through a trustworthy process. The overall conclusion of the YLI Survey Report is that effective leadership development for youth hinges on the presence and engagement of caring adults who consistently show up and affirm their capabilities.
The NOW District has engaged in a years-long research project into how adults help youth become servant-leaders. In September 2021, district staff introduced the NOW Leadership Initiative Toolkit for those looking for next steps in leader identification. The next step of this initiative came in 2023, when the YLI Team focused more specifically on how we raise up youth as servant-leaders, and developed a survey to identify critical adult behaviors that support youth leadership development. The survey collected 64 in-depth responses and utilized a qualitative approach to interpret the data, leading to a trustworthy interpretation of the findings and the identification of “Key Behavior Themes.”
The Youth Leadership Initiative (YLI) Report Survey Findings, published in October 2024, demonstrate the value of observing and applying specific behaviors to encourage leadership among youth. The overall conclusion of the YLI Survey Report is that effective leadership development for youth hinges on the presence and engagement of caring adults who consistently show up, support, and say “Yes!” often.
