Recordings now available from the Uplifting Youth Adult Partnerships Virtual Summit

This virtual summit was hosted by the Region 8 Federal Interagency Adolescent and Young Adult Workgroup and was designed by youth and young adult leaders from states and Tribes in the Department of Health and Human Services Region 8 (Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming) to help professionals working with young people understand the importance of authentic youth engagement in all aspects of work. The links to each of the individual sessions are below:

• The Importance of Connectedness - Learn from a panel of youth from Region 8 states on the importance of social connectedness at the individual level. The moderated discussion includes topics such as relationships with peers and adults, social media, and the impact of COVID.
• Roadmap to Youth Adult Partnerships - This session highlights positive youth development and social justice youth development frameworks for engaging and empowering young people to make a positive impact in their communities. This session models authentic youth adult partnerships and provides tips, tools, and inspiration for how to implement this work.
• Creating the Space for Authentic LGBTQ+ Engagement - A diverse group of LGBTQ+ youth and young adults from across Region 8 will share how adults can incorporate respectful and inclusive practices into their work with youth in public health and healthcare settings.
• Implementing Comprehensive Reproductive Health Services for Youth - During this session, you will hear from youth and adults about issues, challenges, and available resources related to sexuality during puberty and adolescence. The session includes language, statistics, and information that consider diverse perspectives and concerns, including those of the neurodivergent and body positivity communities, as well as of the LGBTQ2IA+ community, especially transgender and asexual individuals. 
• Behind the Scenes Region VIII Summit - An overview and discussion of the planning for this Summit which was designed to model an uplifted youth adult partnership.
• Environmental Justice - This session highlights the intersectionalities of environmental justice. Participants will understand the importance and severity of the climate crisis today, while also being inspired and empowered to take action and cultivate collective hope. This session includes an environmental justice capstone film, interactive activities inspired by the Work That Reconnects, and time for both restoration as well as envisioning our future.
• Don’t Forget to be a Good Human - Two program managers, who have a combined 10 years of experience as the "youth" in youth-adult partnerships and several more years on the "adult" side, have an informal chat on the human element of youth engagement, including what youth-adult partnerships look like in practice, the importance of holistic relationships, and the responsibility adults have to support the young people they work with, in and out of the office.
• Wyoming YAYA Photovoice Project A powerful example of using tools like Photovoice to learn from youth about the issues that matter to them - not just in the present, but for the future.