Youth Ambassadors Reflect on Community Listening Sessions

What should students learn? How should students learn? And who should students learn from?

Those three questions formed the basis for Youth Forward MKE's community listening sessions over the course of 2023. The goal behind these sessions was to inform the structure and curriculum of the Autonomous Youth Council, part of Design Your Future proposal 3.

"This autonomous council will be a group of young people who are not governed by an institution, but governed by themselves and for themselves," said Sebastián Fuentes, Milwaukee Succeeds' community engagement manager.

The listening sessions were primarily driven by Youth Forward MKE Ambassadors. During their first few months, Milwaukee Succeeds staff and partners equipped these youth with the tools they'd need to gather and analyze community feedback. This included providing data trainings, an educational overview of Milwaukee and a primer on what proposal 3 entails. The Ambassadors then used what they'd learned to solicit youth and community feedback at a variety of events.

In the summer of 2024, Youth Forward MKE plans to launch the first cohort of the Summer Training Academy, which will create the foundation for the youth council. This academy will provide ongoing training and the chance for youth to lesson plan and teach alongside adults, allowing them to gain experience and helping them to better advocate for supports and practices.