Authentic Youth Partnership
At the Global Opportunity Youth Network (GOYN), youth are not just participants — they are partners, leaders, and catalysts for systemic change.
GOYN is a growing global network partnering with local youth leaders across 16 communities in 10 countries — and expanding. Today, we are working with over 200 Opportunity Youth through Youth Advisory Groups (YAGs) and other leadership platforms, ensuring that youth voice, leadership, and vision drive everything we do.
Our approach to youth leadership is grounded in Positive Youth Development (PYD), the globally recognized framework that invests in young people’s strengths, skills, and voice. GOYN builds on PYD through our Authentic Youth Partnership (AYP) approach — a deeper commitment to youth-led change, where Opportunity Youth partner with each other, with adults in local GOYN collaboratives, and with system leaders themselves to advance equitable, lasting change.
Through AYP, young people are positioned as co-creators of opportunity:
Partnering with each other as changemakers
Partnering with adult allies in the local GOYN collaborative
And partnering directly with systems and institutions
Engaging in dialogue, co-developing strategies, and shaping policies that unlock equitable economic opportunities for youth in their communities.
GOYN’s partnership model means:
Youth voices are not only heard — they are continuously sought, valued, and acted upon.
Youth voices are not only heard — they are continuously sought, valued, and acted upon.
Youth lead and contribute at every phase of GOYN’s work — from idea generation to strategy design to implementation and learning.
Youth lead and contribute at every phase of GOYN’s work — from idea generation to strategy design to implementation and learning.