Creating an increased and lasting sense of civic agency in youth
Originally published by Social Impact Advisors
Veronika Bylicki, Executive Director & Co-founder of CityHive, shares how her organization is transforming the way young people engage in shaping their cities. Based in Metro Vancouver, this 5-year old nonprofit has revisited its initial strategic plans, to assess their impact to date and what changes might be needed for the way forward.
They’ve engaged key stakeholders along the way and had some tough conversations as a team, looking at the change they want to be making and considering the trade-offs. They’ve developed a Theory of Change that is not only guiding their work but providing momentum, as they aim for youth facing systemic barriers to have an increased and lasting sense of civic agency.
To really understand the youth they aim to serve and the solutions they might need to serve them, we hear about a 10-point continuum of civic agency they’ve created, from not really being interested in engaging around 1, to those working with their municipality to create change.
They’ve further dug in to understand what it might take to create that sense of civic agency, uncovering things like voting at the first possible election.
All of this puts CityHive in a strong position to take action, assessing everything they take on against the impact they seek.