Abstract
Empowering youth to discover and develop their unique leadership strengths transforms them into efficacious, motivated, and innovative students who are primed to engage more deeply in
their educational pursuits (Komives, Lucas, & McMahon, 2013; Scott, Druery, & Pingue, 2022; Winchester 2018). Imbued with purpose, strategies, and a vision for utilizing their unique leadership capacities, youth can leverage their strengths and efficacy to draw relevant connections between their academics and life goals, achieve higher high school and postsecondary degree completion rates, and enter into meaningful career pathways. Thus, youth leadership development has the potential to disrupt intergenerational inequalities and disparities. Further, the act of decentering leadership from the auspices of positional leaders or authority figures—typically adults—empowers youth to navigate complex challenges and apply novel solutions to effect change as they positively transform families, schools, communities, organizations, and society. Cultivating leadership capacities in today’s youth ensures the prosperity, health, and development of future generations as youth are catalyzed to develop solutions, work across differences, and amend historical legacies of oppression, disenfranchisement, and marginalization.
https://expandingleadership.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/CELO-Youth-Leadership-Development-Research-Policy-Report-2023.pdf