Conceptualizing the role of adults within youth-adult partnerships: An example from practice

This paper conceptualizes the specific roles that adults provide and the complex interactions between youth and adults that emerge within youth participation efforts. In particular, we draw on our own experiences with a multi-year youth participation in community organization project to articulate specific adult roles. These include: 1) Training and Capacity Building, 2) Challenging and Pushing, 3) Politicizing and Questioning, 4) Legitimizing and Opening, and 5) Sustaining and Gluing. In addition, we discuss the complex negotiation between youth and adults between agency, power, and flexibility in roles. We close by discussing the implications of our example for practice, education, and research.