Youth Leadership Institute

The Youth Leadership Institute (YLI) is a joint initiative of our practitioners and our researchers based on over 30 years of best practices in youth development work through Adventure.

The Youth Leadership Institute (YLI) at Project Adventure promotes the empowerment of youth through innovative programming. YLI's experiential group process provides opportunities for youth to explore their value, encourage their discoveries, build their skills, and create supportive relationships.

The core models of the YLI represent a comprehensive approach to the development of youth as leader. All young people coming into the YLI will begin the process with the Community and Team-Building model, which is an immersion into the Adventure group experience and exploration of Adventure basics. From there, youth have the opportunity to further develop in one of our advanced youth trainings: Leadership Skills, Conflict Resolution and Peacemaking, and Diversity/Multiculturalism.

It is our hope that the creation of the YLI will increase opportunities for teens to experience our train the trainer services (customized for appropriate age), enhance existing youth models, and allow for the development of innovation in the arena of youth development work.

1. Community and Team-Building

Our Community and Team-Building model is a tailored sequence of Adventure activities that fosters individual and team growth in an environment that is fun, safe and respectful. The model also provides opportunities for youth to make positive choices, gain self-confidence and learn skills that are critical to their lifelong development.

These programs:

Empower youth to experience and practice collective leadership, teamwork, problem solving and conflict resolution
Help youth understand how effective communication and peer support can enhance group decision-making, the development of trust, and positive risk-taking
Allow youth to experience core concepts of the Adventure process

2. Leadership Skills

Our Leadership Programming gives students the skills to understand their own leadership styles, how teams work and an understanding of how the group can perform more effectively. This model focuses on training young people to serve as leaders in both facilitating and processing activities with peers or younger children.

These programs allow students to:

Build on the basics of Adventure programming
Identify and develop one's own leadership style as well as community leadership styles
Deepen their awareness around accountability and responsibility
Apply goal setting and self-assessment strategies in relation to leadership style
The opportunity to lead a section of a program and experience giving and receiving feedback on their leadership

3. Conflict Resolution and Peacemaking

Our Conflict Resolution and Peacemaking model focuses on building trust and community, resolving conflict peacefully fostering teamwork, and engendering self-esteem in students. This is accomplished through participating in collaborative, non-competitive activities that promote helpfulness, inclusiveness, responsibility, as well as building new norms that support these principles. Through developing skills in cooperation, communication, understanding different points of view, and listening, students can then work to appropriately resolve and de-escalate conflict.

Conflict Resolution and Peacemaking programming encompasses:

Adventure activities as an active and engaging vehicle for learning conflict resolution
Strategies to integrate into out-of-school or in-school programming
Opportunities to develop an understanding of how and why conflict occurs and ways to manage conflict and anger
Experiences in which participants learn and practice methods for resolving conflict peacefully

4. Diversity/Multiculturalism

Our Diversity and Multiculturalism model focuses on the value of diversity while enhancing intra- and inter-group relations through an engaging and interactive approach. Young people will further their understanding of the Adventure group process by reinforcing the importance of creating a safe environment for dialogue. Young people will leave with concrete steps to create or enhance existing programming.

Diversity and Multicultural programming allows for:

Opportunity to define diversity for one's self and the group
Exploration of the social identity groups
Development of an appreciation of differences
Development of strategies for managing conflict related to issues of multiculturalism and diversity

"A typical participant, Joanna, in response to an MCAS essay question about what she learned in school this year, wrote: 'This year the most important thing I've learned is how to be a leader in the Project Adventure Program… I learned that I could accomplish anything if I just put my mind into it.'"
Middle school teacher

"The Adventure program has been witness to such profound turnarounds as, Carmela, a painfully self-conscious girl who, at the beginning of the year, would not speak or go anywhere without her best friend, but who now is a spokesperson for shy others and came on the overnight program alone. And boisterous Jasmine, who admits, 'Before, I did not listen and did not care what other people thought. Now I realize I'm not the only person who could answer the questions in class.' Seventh grader, Anna, describes how the program helped her self-confidence, 'I was afraid to talk in class before, but now I got a 98 on a presentation I did in class.'"
After school program leader

"Last year we considered Brenda to be our toughest student. Her home is not always a safe place. Eye contact was something she strictly avoided. This year, she has the benefits of another year of maturity as well as all the positive experiences from last year's school and summer programs. She laughs openly, and forgets herself when playing our games, talking and contributing as if she'd been doing so her whole life. It's a remarkable achievement."
After school program leader