Is it risky letting young people loose on the control deck? And what do they bring to your organisation? We asked an expert—Adam Smith, the 28 year old CEO of the Foundation for Young Australians.
Submitted
27/02/2009
By
actnow
Views
807
Comments
0
Updated
2/12/2009
Adam Smith is a practical example of what happens when you hand young people the reins. He is a director of the International Youth Foundation, a founding board member of Change Makers Australia, and recently led the merge of Education Foundation with the Foundation for Young Australians and became their CEO. We figured he was as good a person as any to answer the question: What can young people on boards do for us?
What is the typical day as a young CEO like?
The FYA is an organisation which supports young people taking action in their local communities. My job since the merge has been developing policies, managing cultural change, and restructuring staff positions. But usually my focus is outward. I develop partnerships, meet investors and work with the board to raise FYA’s profile.
What do organisations get out of having young people on their boards?
You get the perspective, skill set, knowledge and experience of a generation previously untapped. You access the ideas and efforts of passionate, energetic people.
You don’t need to be a youth-oriented organisation to benefit either – young people have plenty to offer on diverse projects from climate change to mental health. For youth-centred organisations, the opportunity to authentically engage with young people is a bonus.
Do the young people on boards need to be high achievers?
That depends on the focus of your organisation, and the support you provide. For example, it’s important to involve young homeless people in a project on youth homelessness. But if they’re going to sit on your board they need to have the skills for the job. The solution is not to bar them in favour of “high-achievers” but to support them in becoming high achievers themselves.
In Australia, most organisations don’t have a true cross-section of involvement. That’s something we need to work on.
How much of a board or committee should be made up by young people? 20%? 100%?
It’s hard to generalise. I’m against a 100% formula because a board should have a mix of perspectives. At the YFA our board is about 50% young people, and our grant committee is almost 100%. The Oaktree Foundation has a 100% youth board and they make it work, but they have lots of high-powered mentors around the fringes of the organisation to give advice.
What resources does an organisation need for youth involvement?
Focusing on putting young people on boards isn’t enough. Neither is giving them tokenistic roles without real responsibilities. Some organisations have a tendency to “tick a box” because they have a lot of young people around. It’s a good start, but for true youth involvement, you need the whole organisation’s commitment.
You need staff who are comfortable working with young people. You need opportunities and staff positions available for young people at all levels of the organisation. You need to provide training so they can develop the skills and experience to contribute as equals.
Have you been in contact with any organisations who have impressed you with their youth involvement?
On a national level, the Oaktree Foundation and the Inspire Foundation are the two big organisations that “do youth” well. Smaller organiations such as Stepback Think have excellent youth involvement, and at a school level, workshops like ruMAD are really impressive.
