1.  Youth as Stakeholders Meeting Christopher Nace District of Columbia Public Schools

2. The Meeting  Youth and adult allies from seven states attended the meeting to discuss ways to enhance youth leadership around the nation.  The following states were in attendance: Arizona, the District of Columbia, Delaware, Michigan, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Virginia.  Participants met in Alexandria, VA for a two-day meeting in September.

3. Results of the Meeting  Youth had a renewed sense of purpose. Following the initial meeting of five youth in Pennsylvania in 2013, the webinars on youth engagement, and the formal meeting between states, the youth group would like to continue their work.  Youth and adult allies were able to have constructive conversations about their future plans across various states and build on practices that are already in place.

4. Proposal for the Future  Following the meeting, the team decided on a key next step for their work. The youth and adult allies drafted a proposal for submission to NASDE.  The proposal discusses a close to phase one of our work and a need to move towards phase two. Phase two includes a National Youth Engagement Summit (YES) for more youth to work to build youth leadership around the nation.

5. What’s Next?  Following the submission of the proposal, the youth and adult allies are looking to continue to build awareness and cross-functionality of tools for youth engagement.  The youth and adult allies are also looking to build more trainings for youth to become more engaged in conversations about their future and trainings for adult allies to empower youth with disabilities.