This chapter focuses on two remote rural communities that engaged young people in meaningful community development efforts to build social capital. One community connected youth to the assets of the community and created opportunities for young adults to strengthen social networks. The other created partnerships and networks to build…

In 2000, a study entitled "Youth in Decision-Making: A Study on the Impacts of Youth on Adults and Organizations," examined organizations that actively involved youth in decision making roles and found that adults and organizations had experienced significant positive changes as a result. Building on focus groups and interviews conducted…

For more than a decade, many researchers and practitioners have endorsed a "positive youth development" approach, which views adolescents as active contributors to their own development and as assets to their communities. As part of this shift, youth are increasingly being invited to engage in community governance. In youth…