Youth Impacters

by Todd Bowman
ILC Director

Youth Vision

Youth Empowerment

Youth Engagement

Youth Mobilization

Youth Leadership

Youth Change Agents

Youth Community Builders

Youth Impacters

All of these statements are different ways of communicating the vision of the Impact Learning Center:

Young people using their God-given strengths to make a positive and powerful difference in their world.

When I first arrived at City Impact in December of 2005, I never would have imagined that the statement above would capture the vision for the Impact Learning Center. Having spent twenty years in the field of youth work and twelve years in education, with the past six years being in an urban school setting, the paradigm through which I viewed urban was filled with images of need.

At-Risk

Achievement Gap

Illiteracy

Failure

Poverty

Violence

Drugs

Hopelessness

I reasonably assumed that reaching urban young people involved solving or addressing the myriad of problems these youth faced on a daily basis.

However, an alternative approach to youth development theorizes that the most effective way to positively affect the life of a child is through their strengths. This field of study is known as positive youth development.

While my posts will likely hit on a variety of topics over time, the topic of urban youth as community builders will be a common theme. I invite everyone to join me each week as I explore this powerful new paradigm and its impact on City Impact programs.