A: Explore your community network (there are activities in the program that do just that) to identify people with whom you or the youth have a good relationship or around whom they would feel comfortable. Think about the type of ally the group would most benefit from. Introduce allies that value and respect young people, who will treat them as equal partners, and provide the support they need to speak up and participate meaningfully in society. Consider also that more senior allies can remove roadblocks and offer valuable guidance while junior allies can act as mentors and support youths’ leadership.  

Reach out as early as possible once the youth have articulated an interest area they would like to know more about and aim to make the process as easy as possible for the ally to join the group space. It can be helpful to brief them on the Agenda Gap approach and the importance of meeting youth where they are at before inviting them to a session, and to provide an agenda or list of questions/conversation topics in advance. 

If you’re struggling to identify someone in your network who is familiar with the topic the youth have selected, please feel free to reach out to the Agenda Gap staff for assistance.