Leading Change in Youth‑Serving Systems for Lasting Impact Training Series

Leading Change text overlaid dimmed picture of McCourt building

In youth-serving systems, we often start out with ambitious reform ideas but run quickly into practical challenges like:

  • What’s the best way to use data?
  • How do you know your programs are making a difference?
  • How do you translate really great ideas into actual, thriving and sustainable programs?
  • Are you asking the right questions when gathering data?
  • What’s the best way to gain traction with stakeholders?
  • Are there any “tricks” to successful implementation?

The Leading Change in Youth-Serving Systems for Impact Training Series is designed to address questions like these through accessible six-hour online workshops. Each workshop addresses a thematic question or challenge facing youth-serving professionals over two days of immersive large group presentations, small group breakout sessions, and deep engagement into the programs and challenges that participants bring with them.

We hosted our first two Leading Change workshops in 2025, with more on the way, including new topics, “advanced” courses of existing workshops, and potential rehosting of previous sessions!

Upcoming Workshops!

text "Navigating Stakeholder Engagement in Youth-Serving Systems" over dark blue background with lights connecting like stars and neurons representing engagement and systems

New Workshop in May! Navigating Stakeholder Dynamics in Youth-Serving Systems: Practical Tools for Cross-System Collaboration

This interactive workshop supports youth‑serving professionals to address one of the most persistent challenges in system change: building and sustaining collaboration among partners operating under different mandates, priorities, and infrastructures. Participants will learn to diagnose stakeholder dynamics and power relationships, identify the incentives and burdens shaping engagement, and apply structured tools such as stakeholder mapping and system incentive profiling to clarify roles, responsibilities, and decision‑making authority.

The focus of this workshop is on real‑world application. Participants will analyze root causes of their own partnership challenges and develop concrete strategies to align diverse stakeholders around shared goals that promote youth well-being and long-term success.

Previous Workshops

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Text "Turning Data into Youth Justice Impact" overlaid classroom.
Text "Leading through Tension: Communicating Fairness in Practice in Today's Youth Legal Systems" overlaid Lincoln Memorial

Series Blog Posts

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Don’t Let One Incident Shape the Whole Conversation

April 8th, 2026

In youth-serving systems, collaboration often breaks down for reasons that are more structural than personal. A strong proposal with clear evidence of need can be rejected or stalled due to one…