Authentic Youth Partnership

At GOYN, young people are not just participants — they are partners, leaders, and catalysts for systemic change.

The GOYN network partners with local youth leaders across 17 communities in 9 countries — with the global footprint continuing to expand. Today, we work with over 200 Opportunity Youth through Youth Advisory Groups (YAGs) and other leadership platforms, ensuring that youth voice, leadership, and vision steer 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. Building on PYD, we’ve formed GOYN’s Authentic Youth Partnership (AYP) approach, which positions young people as co-creators of opportunity in a deeper commitment to youth-led change. Through AYP, Opportunity Youth partner:

• with each other as changemakers
• with adult allies in each local GOYN collaborative
• directly with leaders of systems and institutions

AYP equips and mobilizes young people to engage in dialogue, co-develop strategies, and shape policies that unlock more equitable economic opportunities for OY in their communities and spur longer-lasting change.

GOYN’s partnership model means:

Young people bring meaningful lived experience to coach, train, and galvanize their peers

Youth voices are not only heard — they are continuously sought, valued, and acted upon, from local town halls to international stages

Youth lead and contribute at every phase of GOYN’s work — from idea generation to strategy design to implementation and learning

Young leaders continuously demonstrate their power as advocates for more equitable outcomes