Illuminating the Path to Youth Development

With her experience in education, program management, and international education development for the San Francisco Beacon Initiative, Jessica Zlotnicki joined our Community Partner Co-Educator (CPCE) Fellowship this past spring where she connected with community peers, shared her expertise, and built a deeper understanding of how to work with USF and our students. In this post, Jess relays the satisfaction of illuminating the path of appreciating youth development professionals.

I want to ask you a question:

When you were younger, what was your answer to that ubiquitous question “What do you want to be when you grow up”? Lawyer, doctor, firefighter, astronaut, athlete, movie star? Maybe even a teacher? I’ll wager that you didn’t say “I want to be a youth development professional”. 

And that’s ok! Most young people, ok, many adults don’t know about this field. Yet, youth development programs and professionals have incredible impacts on young people and are immensely fulfilling to those who do this work. However, like so many other sectors of the workforce that educate, help, serve, and support people, it is undervalued and often goes unrecognized. 

My organization, the San Francisco Beacon Initiative, supports professionals at all stages of their careers in the youth development field. But, along with the rest of the field, we have struggled to communicate its value and impact to potential future generations of youth development workers. And that’s where our partnership with Leo T. McCarthy Center and USF students comes in.

“The LTMC and SFBI have so many shared values: non-extractive community engagement, equitable outcomes for students and community partners, and so much more.”

Since the beginning of 2024, SFBI has had the opportunity to serve as a community-engaged learning (CEL) placement site for 6 (so far!) incredible students from USF. The project they have worked on is called Illuminating the Path – Careers in Youth Development. It is a community-engaged research project where we have intentionally collaborated with USF students from outside of the youth development field. So far we’ve worked with engineering, political science, and marketing students. This is part of the beauty of USF’s approach to CEL – all students dedicate their time and receive credit for supporting and learning from the work of the many community-based organizations in San Francisco and do not need to be tied to their major.

In such a short amount of time, we have built a community with students and faculty who we would never cross paths with outside of this context. And these connections have been more worthwhile than we ever imagined.

By now you may be asking, “ok but what did the students do?”  Starting in the spring of 2024, we collaborated with (and I use the term collaborate intentionally) USF students to learn about youth development, design an interview protocol, conduct qualitative interviews, and analyze that data. We are now in the process of taking all of what we have collected and learned and are creating a variety of communication and marketing collateral. At every step, the students have really driven the vision and direction of this project. 

I’ll admit, I was nervous coming into this process. I want to make sure that any internship or volunteer placement is meaningful to students and provides them the opportunity to learn new things and develop new skills. Volunteering directly with kids is a fulfilling experience for youth and adults alike. I was worried that working on a project about the impact of the people who work directly with young people wouldn’t give the USF students the kind of engaged learning they needed or wanted. 

Thankfully, I was so wrong. Hear from some of our students and their experience(s):

“I connect with this work because I and my friends were the kids who needed these kinds of programs and this kind of support.” Nic is graduating in the Winter of 2024.

“I learned a great deal and appreciated the opportunity to learn from you about youth development and how the non-profit industry operates. (This placement) taught me so much about this career path and gave me transferable skills that I can utilize in my career.”  Mariya, graduating in the Spring of 2025.

“The significance of ‘youth workers’ has evolved profoundly since my initial engagement, now intertwined with the narratives, experiences, and faces of the remarkable individuals I encountered in this endeavor. Each individual exuded profound respect and joy for their role in this sphere. The interviews proved integral to this internship, capturing the essence of our project. They illuminated the fulfillment, challenges, and unwavering delight inherent in every youth worker’s journey.” Sarah graduated in the Spring of 2024.

Learn more about the next Community Partner Co-Educator Fellowship at:  https://myusf.usfca.edu/mccarthy/programs/community-engagement/service-learning-community-partners.