Programs
Developing Young Leaders
Leadership training is at the core of NYLC’s mission. NYLC works to develop young leaders through direct training with youth, by providing opportunities to lead and contribute, and by providing resources and support to tackle issues that matter to them in their communities. We also offer professional development resources designed to help teachers develop and support young leaders.
High school students from across the United States gather each year for the National Youth Leadership Training, a life-changing week of adventure, self-discovery, friendship, cultural exchange, leadership-building, and service. The experience culminates in teams of young people and their adult sponsors planning service-learning projects to implement back home.
Project Ignition provides opportunities for high school students, teachers, and community-program leaders to implement new, creative service-learning projects promoting teen driver safety.
NYLC’s initiative: Smart. Youth Solutions to the Achievement Gap is about engaging youth in addressing the achievement gap. The result of an initiative begun by our Youth Advisory Council and initially implemented at our National Youth Leadership Training, this program is now available as a standalone session at your school or organization.
The Youth Advisory Council is a team of servant-leaders, ages 14-21, recognized for their dedication to promoting youth leadership, service-learning, youth-adult partnerships, and diversity. YAC advises NYLC on its programming and brings a valuable youth perspective to the organization’s work.
Advancing the Field
NYLC believes that supportive research and policy leadership are key components to building momentum for service-learning. We are working the prove the case for service-learning's effectiveness with solid data and inspiring stories from around the world.
In 2008, the service-learning field released evidence-based standards and accompanying indicators that K-12 practitioners can use to ensure high-quality service-learning practice. NYLC is committed to publishing the standards and making them widely available. Our Lift website is an in-depth training tool with real-ilfe examples on applying the standards to your own projects.
The National Service-Learning Conference is the largest gathering of youth and practitioners from the service-learning movement, convening approximately 2,200 young people and adult service-learning practitioners from across the country and around the globe. Three days of workshops, plenary presentations, thought leader series, affinity meetings, exhibits, service projects, and more offer attendees opportunities to refresh and renew their service-learning practice or be introduced to the essentials.
As the service-learning field rises to meet current challenges, the National Youth Leadership Council is dedicated to advancing the field as a whole by offering resources and collaborating with partners.
NYLC awards shine a spotlight on exemplary leaders from across the service-learning movement and nurture the leaders of the future. Most awards are presented annually at the National Service-Learning Conference.
Supporting Educators
Effective professional development is at the heart of school success and teacher effectiveness. With schools today facing an array of complex challenges—from meeting rigorous academic standards and goals, to working with an increasingly diverse population of students, to integrating new technology in the classroom, to engaging students effectively and helping them develop connection to their school and community—NYLC's year-round training options help teachers to enhance and build on their instructional knowledge.
The Generator School Network is an online community of professionals committed to providing and advocating for high-quality service-learning experiences for young people around the world. Join the 1,600 current members in utilizing this free resource as a way to learn, plan, and connect with the service-learning field.
Building on our demonstrated success in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) initiatives, NYLC is working harder than ever to increase awareness and implementation of service-learning as an effective teaching methodology. NYLC has a wide range of resources and hundreds of project examples from our partner schools and the GSN community to help get you started.
An annual two-day event, the National Urban Service-Learning Institute explores the challenges and promises of service-learning in urban contexts. Practitioners and young people learn from experts and each other about the latest research, promising programs, and best practices for reaching young people in urban areas.
Convened annually during the National Service-Learning Conference, the Service-Learning World Forum brings service-learning practitioners from around the world together to share information and compare effective strategies cross-culturally.
