Building Authentic Youth-Adult Partnerships: Lessons in Intergenerational Collaboration

Since 2022, the Annie E. Casey Foun­da­tion has part­nered with inter­gen­er­a­tional com­mu­ni­ty-based orga­ni­za­tions to explore strate­gies to improve youth-adult part­ner­ships. As the ini­tia­tive enters its final phase of its work, Casey Senior Asso­ciate Traci Broady dis­cuss­es key insights and how these insights will shape a new tool kit designed to help orga­ni­za­tions strength­en col­lab­o­ra­tion across generations.

How Com­mu­ni­ty-Based Orga­ni­za­tions Can Trans­form Struc­tures, Build Trust and Cre­ate Inclu­sive Spaces That Ele­vate Youth Leadership

“In our con­ver­sa­tion with Traci Broady, we dug into real-world exam­ples of how orga­ni­za­tions are mak­ing these inter­gen­er­a­tional part­ner­ships come alive.”

Q: What roles have young peo­ple tak­en on in the orga­ni­za­tions pilot­ing the inter­gen­er­a­tional part­ner­ship tool kit, and how have those roles con­tributed to shared lead­er­ship and decision-making?

Broady: Young peo­ple in these orga­ni­za­tions are step­ping into true lead­er­ship roles, not just par­tic­i­pat­ing at the edges. They’re inter­view­ing poten­tial staff, includ­ing can­di­dates for lead­er­ship posi­tions, learn­ing about finances, con­tribut­ing to bud­get dis­cus­sions, shap­ing agen­das and lead­ing ini­tia­tives. Some are serv­ing on advi­so­ry coun­cils with actu­al deci­sion-mak­ing pow­er, and oth­ers have tran­si­tioned into full-time staff posi­tions. These con­tri­bu­tions show that young peo­ple want to help shape orga­ni­za­tion­al cul­ture and strat­e­gy, not just pro­grams — and when giv­en the chance, they are prov­ing they can dri­ve mean­ing­ful change.

Q: As young peo­ple tran­si­tion into work­ing in adult-dom­i­nat­ed or inter­gen­er­a­tional spaces, what types of orga­ni­za­tion­al sup­port have proven most nec­es­sary for their success?

Broady: Mov­ing from youth-only spaces into mixed-age envi­ron­ments often cre­ate chal­lenges. Young peo­ple may become less vocal or unsure of how to assert them­selves. That’s why orga­ni­za­tions must adapt, not just invite youth into unchanged systems. 

Com­pre­hen­sive onboard­ing with clear roles and expec­ta­tions, devel­oped col­lab­o­ra­tive­ly, is impor­tant. Lead­er­ship coach­ing can help young peo­ple adjust to new dynamics. 

Meet­ings should also be designed to be youth-friend­ly: using plain lan­guage, giv­ing con­text for com­plex top­ics and explain­ing the pur­pose and out­comes of discussions.

Build­ing rela­tion­ships is equal­ly crit­i­cal. Intro­duc­tions that go beyond names and titles, men­tor­ship pair­ings, inter­gen­er­a­tional project teams and reg­u­lar check-ins help reduce pow­er imbal­ances and cre­ate trust. By mak­ing these changes, orga­ni­za­tions ensure young peo­ple can ful­ly engage as col­leagues and leaders.

Q: How would you describe the dynam­ics between young peo­ple and adults across par­tic­i­pat­ing orga­ni­za­tions, and what approach­es have you found most effec­tive in fos­ter­ing authen­tic inter­gen­er­a­tional collaboration?

Broady: A com­mon chal­lenge is orga­ni­za­tion­al silos. Staff who work close­ly with youth often see things dif­fer­ent­ly from those who don’t, which keeps inter­gen­er­a­tional work con­fined to youth pro­gram­ming rather than embed­ded through­out the organization.

What works best is giv­ing youth direct access to senior lead­er­ship. When this hap­pens, their focus shifts from improv­ing pro­grams to shap­ing how the entire orga­ni­za­tion oper­ates. Trust­ing young peo­ple with real infor­ma­tion and respon­si­bil­i­ty leads to stronger part­ner­ships. Sim­ple prac­tices like ice­break­ers, shared ground rules and col­lec­tive reflec­tion pro­vide a foun­da­tion for hon­est col­lab­o­ra­tion and helps teams man­age ten­sions productively. 

Q: What have you learned about build­ing trust in inter­gen­er­a­tional spaces, and what prac­tices or struc­tures have helped estab­lish mutu­al accountability?

Broady: Build­ing trust requires more than good inten­tions. Young peo­ple need to see that their con­tri­bu­tions mat­ter and lead to action. Clear roles and expec­ta­tions, cre­at­ed togeth­er with adults, set the foun­da­tion. Shared account­abil­i­ty sys­tems — where every­one is held to the same stan­dards — strength­en the part­ner­ship. Clos­ing the loop on feed­backis espe­cial­ly pow­er­ful: show­ing young peo­ple how their input shaped deci­sions and led to change. Finan­cial trans­paren­cy also mat­ters. When orga­ni­za­tions invite youth into bud­get con­ver­sa­tions, it builds mutu­al respon­si­bil­i­ty and shows gen­uine trust.

Q: What have you learned about mak­ing inter­gen­er­a­tional spaces more inclu­sive for par­tic­i­pants with dif­fer­ent capac­i­ties, back­grounds or com­mu­ni­ca­tion styles?

Broady: Inclu­siv­i­ty turned out to be broad­er than expect­ed. It’s not just about food or tech­nol­o­gy, but about cre­at­ing spaces where every­one can take part mean­ing­ful­ly. Using plain lan­guage instead of jar­gon helps dif­fer­ent age groups under­stand one anoth­er. Orga­ni­za­tions also learned to offer flex­i­ble ways to par­tic­i­pate: in-per­son, vir­tu­al or writ­ten. Rotat­ing lead­er­ship roles, enable remote par­tic­i­pa­tion, shar­ing meet­ing sum­maries and design­ing short­er, more focused ses­sions all make engage­ment more fea­si­ble. By inten­tion­al­ly adapt­ing the way work gets done, orga­ni­za­tions make par­tic­i­pa­tion pos­si­ble for more peo­ple across ages and abilities.