The Transformative Power of Youth Organizing Coaches

September 2023

By National Equity Project and the BELE Network

This brief discusses NEP’S learnings around the BELE Essential Action: Empower Youth. This Essential Action provides guidance on how to listen to, understand, and respond to the voices and experiences of students, especially underserved students and those from marginalized communities, to ensure they have agency in their learning and development and in the creation of a more supportive and affirming system.

Near-Peer Mentors and Youth Organizing Coaches

Districts can engage students as co-designers and decision-makers in a number of ways. One key way that NEP advocates for school districts to listen to, understand, and be responsive to student voices is through the role of a Youth Organizing Coach. The Youth Organizing Coach is a paid contractual position whose primary responsibilities are to connect with students, share knowledge around youth organizing and navigating oppressive systems, and support students to address specific needs in their schools.