AIR’s youth development work is based on the idea that evidence-based and practice-informed solutions can foster conditions for thriving youth and families, supportive schools, and community development. Our domestic and international youth development work includes many topics that are interrelated and contribute to thriving, including how and where young people learn and develop.
Our Work
AIR experts lead work across three interconnected areas of youth development that help young people, families, and communities learn, grow, and thrive – together forming a broader ecosystem of opportunities that span schools, communities, and various youth-serving systems:
- Out-of-school-time and summer learning opportunities. AIR brings extensive experience in research, evaluation, technical assistance, and capacity building to strengthen the programs, people, and system that support young people beyond the traditional school day and year. Our work spans afterschool and summer learning, community-based programs, experiential and interest-driven learning, youth engagement, and the broader networks of opportunity and support available to young people.
- Youth economic mobility. AIR works across education, workforce, and community systems to expand opportunities for young people to build skills, explore pathways, and connect learning and development to employment and economic mobility. Our work considers how programs, systems, and partnerships can better prepare young people for changing economies and support their ability to adapt and thrive.
- Coaching and sports programs. AIR partners with coaching and sports organizations to strengthen the experiences and environments that support positive youth development. Our work focuses on the role of coaches and sports programs in fostering supportive relationships, developing skills, promoting belonging, and creating meaningful opportunities for young people.
Our youth development work connects with AIR’s expertise in community schools and other place-based initiatives, as well as whole child learning and development, social and emotional learning and related frameworks, school climate and conditions for learning, workforce development, and other youth-serving systems.
Across these areas, AIR works with partners to strengthen the programs, relationships, and systems that help young people learn, grow, belong, and thrive. We bring data, evidence, and principles of youth development and meaningful youth engagement to help communities strengthen what they do, connect what they have, to help communities create and strengthen the opportunities for young people to thrive.
