YOUTH ADVISORY BOARD (YAB), YOUTH ADVISORY GROUP (YAG), YOUTH ADVISORY COUNCIL (YAC), YOUTH SOUNDING BOARD (YSB).

Did I skip any fancy name or acronym in the title?

According to the UN there are 1.2 billion Young people aged 15-24 years on the planet, Exciting yet scary.

Within the past decade, there has been rising youth-led, campaigns, initiatives and programs tailored at engaging young people meaningfully in economic and development activities.

To promote inclusion, diversity and leadership of young people the phrase "youth at the table" rings a bell across varying sectors and stakeholders. Similar catchphrases like youth power, youth-centered, youth-led, youth-focused, youth-driven, youth inclusive, by youth with youth for youth and many more are used to amplify the need for youth representation and inter-generational conversations.

To promote inclusion and advocacy, many organizations have adopted initiatives like the Youth Advisory Board, which is similarly referred to as the Youth Sounding Board, Youth Advisory Group, and Youth Advisory Council among other names.

The purpose of the Youth Boards are to represent the opinions, agendas, values and perspectives of youth on decision-making initiatives. In other words, they were created to mainstream youth perception and promote youth leadership on initiatives.

With the rapidly growing numbers of youth boards, one might question if they are serving their purpose. While the purpose of youth boards varies across organizations, a popular role among youth board members is outreach, communication and ambassadorial-related roles. This can be attributed to the prominent usage of social media platforms by young people. The big question is, is this the right purpose?

On second look, youth boards carry out research and consultations to mainstream the perspective of young people in decision-making initiatives. Project design and management-related roles are also common responsibilities among young people.

Meanwhile, the intensity, technical or project mainstreaming of sub-tasks may vary across boards with some boards requiring more subject area specialized skills and prior experience than others.

Although advisory and co-creation should be the major backbones of youth advisory boards, this is not always the case.

Why? Mindset-related issues, here are some;

1. Children: Youths are still considered as children, unqualified and incompetent to lead.

2. Generational trauma: The idea that a generation was poorly compensated when they were young and they think young people should suffer the same fate as they did.

3. Power drunk: Sadly, it is not strange to see people hold on to power even on their deathbeds when it can be let go and handed to a younger generation via inter-generational collaboration, coaching and mentorship.

4. Comparison: Using the incompetence of few to judge others. For example, "My 24-year-old child doesn't watch the news, what does an 18-year-old know that can impact, inform or accelerate this policy".

"Any initiative that is for youth but without youth is definitely not for youth."

Regardless of the aforementioned challenges and setbacks. It is paramount for young people to prepare for policy and technical leadership roles. Whether we get enough seats at the table now or by natural causes, eventually we will have a seat at the table.        

I must also highlight the need for young people to grow, skill up, plan and prepare for life post-youth boards and leadership roles.

This is to ensure we do not end up power drunk or repeating some of the same issues that we are trying to address now.

Youthfulness is bliss, sadly we will not always be youths. Let us make hay while the sun shines.

Commitment, Duration and Compensation

Compensation, duration and commitments of youth boards vary depending on the age, qualifications, technical and time requirements, responsibilities, project and very paramount, the organization and funders.

Youth Advisory Board members may be required to commit specified hours monthly based on the Term of Reference, Time-sheet and agreed Contract signed between parties (youth board members and organization).

The duration of most youth advisory boards spans an average of 1-2 years with renewable terms where necessary. While most youth board members are treated as volunteering and part-time roles, stipends are given to reimburse data and other task-related logistics, with a few boards adding a fixed honorarium for youth board members depending on the organization.

Moreover, some organizations may offer learning and exposure experiences as the main meal of the compensation plan.

In my opinion, professionals are first professionals before they are "youth professionals".

In situations where the roles of youth advisory board members are technical and require time commitment, young people should be compensated properly.

If the work that the YAB, YSB, YAG or YAC is doing has a minimum rate when done as a professional service and the youth board members have the necessary qualifications needed to deliver that service within agreed time frames then they should be compensated properly.

PAY YOUNG PEOPLE WELL!        

Should you join a Youth Board?

When managed properly youth boards provide opportunities to influence policy, lead change, shift power, hold policymakers accountable, create relevant policies, expand your network, and acquire knowledge, while serving as a stepping stone to policy-related professions, offices, careers and roles.

Should your organization have a Youth Board?

In my opinion, all organizations that interact with youth and want to remain relevant in the next 30 years and beyond should be youth-inclusive and youth-focused, while co-creating youth-led initiatives to promote trans-generational growth and enhance inter-generational transition.

For inter-generational solidarity-centered organizations, creating a youth advisory board for an organization or specific project is a great step to contribute to youth inclusion and leadership while creating a safe space at work.

As a young person, do you think there should be policies guiding the structure, operations and compensations of Youth Advisory Boards? If Yes, kindly let me know what you will like to see in them.

• Do you think YSB, YAB, YAG, YAC are serving their purpose?
• Do you think the boards promote meaningful youth engagements or they are largely defined as youth tokenism?
• Do you think youth boards are building blocks and stepping stones to more national and public leadership policy-related roles?
• If you sit on a youth board, what contributions have you made in advancing meaningful youth engagements?