Youth with histories of involvement in the youth legal system are partnering with adults to realize a vision of community that centers healing, restoration, health, and whole person wellbeing. This community - The Hive - is coming to life in Richmond, Virginia with the help of adult staff, partner experts, and youth leaders.
Seth Hill, President of the Youth Advisory Board, says “this is like nothing I’ve ever been a part of.” Some of the youth leaders form the Youth Advisory Board (YAB). The YAB is a youth-led team that leans on adult partners, including the adults forming The Hive organization and the amazing team at Designing Justice + Designing Spaces for relevant expertise.
The Youth Advisory Board is structured to support leadership by each of the members, with roles like Motivator and Check-in Leader. The group is diverse in age, ranging from 13 to 21 years old.
The Hive’s Keys to Successful Youth-Adult Partnership
“Build at the speed of trust”
Envisioning a new community takes a lot of work, and the staff and youth conceptualizing The Hive are aware of the importance of the legacy they are building. However, they focus time and energy on building and maintaining trust between youth and adults, among youth, and among adults. Quoting adrienne marie brown, Gina Lyles, the former Engagement Director of Performing Statistics and now Executive Director of The Hive, called this focus “building at the speed of trust.”
The YAB began during 11 weeks of full-time relationship-building and visioning during the summer. The foundation of trust, communication, and youth leadership built over that focused period continues to shore up the group as it moves forward.
Adults crafting The Hive and partnering with the YAB also have strong foundational relationships built over five years working together at parent organization, Performing Statistics, and share a common dedication to authentic youth-adult partnership.
Photo Credit: Images from The Hive's Youth Advisory Board bus tour. Photos by Mark Strandquist, courtesy of the Performing Statistics project.
Meet youth where they are
Seth says a key to youth-adult partnership is to “try to understand people’s trauma and accept them as they come.” Staff have a plan for supporting skills and knowledge development among youth on the YAB, but they keep that plan flexible. Meeting youth where they are, both when they join the group and each day, is central to The Hive’s model of building trust.
Both youth and adults have space to show up as their authentic selves, even if that means the day’s planned agenda needs to change. Gina says youth rely on adults to be our authentic selves and use our emotional intelligence. “It can’t be about a quota. We are all human beings, and we all need to be safe,” says Gina.
This also means recognizing that youth have their own workloads and will sometimes need flexibility, just like adults. Now that school is in session, the YAB meets much less frequently and at a time that works for all the youth and their diverse schedules. And for those youth no longer in school who can take on more work, adult staff drive work opportunities to them. The group keeps in touch between meetings using a group text app. This step back in frequency is only possible because of the strength of relationships built during the summer.
Effectively share resources
The Hive contracts with YAB members as consultants and pays YAB members $25 per hour. Perhaps more important, they make their internal accounting practices fit youth needs. If a youth is unbanked and needs to receive cash, the staff accept receipts for purchases back from the youth for accounting purposes. The Hive also has a separate youth employment structure called the Youth Ambassador Squad. These youth are part-time employees of The Hive, with their salaries accounted and planned for with all other staff in the organization’s budget.
During the summer, YAB members also received transportation and food support in ways that met their needs. Youth who didn’t have access to their own transportation could get a carshare ride when they needed it. When programming happened during mealtimes, the staff ordered food for everyone. The flexibility and youth-centered resource sharing practices push funders to recognize the humanity of youth working with The Hive.
“Living for each other”
The Hive team, including the YAB and the staff, are in this together. When conflict arises, the group turns to restorative and community-building practices. Exclusion from the group or similar punishments are never the answer. Gina points out, “if you walk around feeling like no one cares about you, it’s tough to care about anyone else.”
The group also makes sacrifices for each other. For staff, that means meeting with youth outside of school and regular work hours.
Photo Credit: Images from The Hive's Youth Advisory Board bus tour. Photos by Mark Strandquist, courtesy of the Performing Statistics project.
What’s Next for The Hive
As The Hive continues to develop and formalize into a stand-alone organization, the YAB wants to educate the community and the public about true justice. The YAB worked with The Conciliation Lab on a recent virtual intergenerational conversation called “Devising Justice” and will be doing community outreach events in an art-wrapped bus.
To learn more about The Hive, call 804-554-3527 or email info@thehivemovement.org. You can visit their website at www.thehivemovement.org and follow along on Instagram and Twitter at @thehivemovement or Facebook at @thehivemovement804.
Let’s schedule an introductory call to discuss how you can implement these best practices in your own organization or agency.