2011/10/24 by Jerusha Conner, Jerusha O. Conner
Social Sciences · #Nonprofit Sector and Volunteering #Service-Learning and Community Engagement #Youth Development and Social Support
paper · doi:10.1111/j.1532-7795.2011.00766.x
openalex publication_date 2011/10/24 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
Nationally, youth organizing programs are growing in popularity. Although research has found positive short‐term effects associated with participation, little work has examined longer‐term implications. This study explores how alumni from one organizing group describe its influence on their subsequent developmental trajectories. Their descriptions highlight perceived effects in academic, professional, relational, and sociopolitical arenas. Although most respondents remain committed to the issues they came to care about as youth organizers, they express these commitments in various ways, including through traditional and nontraditional forms of civic engagement. They also credit a diverse set of programmatic factors with having influenced them. The findings introduce the various process and outcome factors that the participants find salient, raising implications for future longitudinal or survey research.