Unlocking Youth Potential: Beyond Participation

This summer, I had the privilege of facilitating a Youth Fund panel where young people made real decisions about where funding should be spent across their city. A range of organisations applied to deliver youth activities, and it was the young people on the panel, not the adults in the room, who decided which projects would be supported. Watching them weigh up proposals, debate priorities and challenge each other’s thinking (with more focus and respect and far less drama than plenty of adults) was a powerful reminder that youth voice isn’t just about being heard, it’s about having influence.

What struck me most was the seriousness with which they approached the task. They weren’t just participating; they were shaping the future of provision in their communities. That experience reinforced why youth voice matters, because when young people are trusted with responsibility, they rise to it. For the sector, it highlights the difference between counting attendance and unlocking potential. Meaningful youth voice, when embedded properly, transforms programmes, shifts mindsets and creates opportunities that last. Without it, we risk designing services for young people instead of with them.

When we talk about unlocking youth potential, it’s easy to stop at participation. The numbers on a register, the headcount at an event, the survey responses. But those figures don’t tell us whether young people feel listened to, valued or able to shape the systems around them. The real opportunity is to centre youth voice as the driver of change.

The challenge is that youth voice is still too often treated as symbolic. Panels are convened, consultations are held, but the decisions remain adult led. Young people notice that gap, and it chips away at their trust. At the same time, there is a shift happening. Funders, practitioners and communities are recognising that young people aren’t just beneficiaries; they’re partners, leaders and experts in their own lives.

There’s a tension here. It’s quicker to design programmes for young people, but far more powerful to design them with young people. That takes time, confidence and a willingness to share power. It also means asking harder questions. Who is being heard, and who is being left out. How do we design processes that don’t just capture youth voice at the end, but build it in from the very beginning so it’s authentic, inclusive and impossible to ignore.

This is the wider conversation we need to lean into. How we equip organisations to embed youth voice into leadership development, workforce support and inclusive programme design in ways that feel real and not tokenistic. Not as an add on, but as the foundation for unlocking youth potential in a way that is sustainable, equitable and genuinely transformative.

One of the clearest lessons from practice is that youth voice only works when it’s genuine. Young people can spot tokenism immediately. If they’re asked for their views but nothing changes, trust is lost quickly. The Lundy Model makes the point clearly. Youth voice isn’t just about having a space to speak; it’s about who listens and what changes as a result.

I’ve seen the difference when organisations get this right. Locally trusted organisations in underserved communities create environments where young people feel safe enough to speak honestly, putting youth voice at the centre of provision and building the kind of trust that makes engagement meaningful. I’ve also seen how organisations use youth voice to shape leadership pathways, services and workforce development. Not just involving young people in programmes, but equipping them to lead and influence.

On the flip side, I’ve seen where things go wrong. When youth voice is treated as a consultation exercise, or when efficiency is prioritised over inclusion, the most marginalised young people are the ones who miss out. And when programmes fail to adapt to diverse needs, participation becomes a surface level measure.

Across the sector, there is a growing recognition that youth voice is both a matter of right and a practical necessity. It improves quality, equity and impact. It informs programme design, builds inclusive cultures and supports young people to step into leadership. In short, it makes the work better.

If we’re serious about unlocking youth potential, we have to stop treating youth voice as an optional extra. It needs to be built into the DNA of how programmes are designed and delivered. That means creating systems where young people’s contributions are treated as influence, not just input. It means equipping practitioners with the confidence and skills to facilitate honest conversations. It means valuing young people’s time and insight through recognition, fair compensation and clear feedback on how their contributions shaped the outcome. And it means asking who is being heard, and who is being missed, every single time.

This is the shift from saying ‘you said, we did’, to recognising ‘you shaped this, and the system changed because you were in the room’.

At Affleck and Co, youth voice is integral to strategy, programme design and monitoring, evaluation and learning. Our role is to help organisations build systems that don’t just count young people, but serve them. That includes supporting leadership pathways informed by youth insight, developing workforce strategies that embed inclusion and designing programmes that reflect the realities of the communities they aim to serve. Collaboration matters, and we’re committed to working alongside practitioners, young people and partners to move the sector forward.

Youth voice isn’t a nice to have. It’s the foundation for sustainable and equitable change. If we want programmes that work, leaders who listen and communities that thrive, then youth voice has to sit at the centre. Not as decoration, but as direction.

This Collective Conversation piece is written by Jess Callaghan – Affleck & Co. Subject Matter Expert