Youth make excellent TU leaders

Does your chapter or council have a youth leader in it—as in, a leader who is a young person?  Young people in their teens and early twenties take on MANY leadership roles at TU.  Here are just a few of the ways they can be involved:

·         Chapter leaders – teens can be members of Chapter boards and also make great youth outreach chairs or members of the communications and social media team for your Chapter.

·         Council leaders – teens and young twenty-somethings are great to have on your Council board, for the different perspective they can bring, especially to your outreach work.  The best way to engage young people across your council is to have a young person in a leadership role sharing what young people might be interested in and how to reach them.

·         Youth mentors at camp – most TU summer Camps and Academies invite campers back for a second or third summer as a youth mentor.  Having youth in any peer leadership role can really change how the other youth participants invest in and learn whatever fishing or conservation you are teaching!

·         Members of the Youth Leadership Council (YLC) – all graduates of the National TU Youth Summit (which will be in its fourth year next summer) become part of the national Youth Leadership Council or YLC.  These teens work on developing outreach materials for youth and also offer guidance as to what they’d like to see be a part of TU youth programming.  Their insight and efforts have become invaluable to TU staff and the NLC in understanding what interests teens the most and how to reach them best.

·         5 Rivers college club presidents – more and more colleges and universities each year are establishing TU 5 Rivers clubs, TU college clubs that can work with their local chapter to do conservation projects and fish in nearby waters.  Often, the presidents of these clubs are highly motivated young people who can be a very valuable asset to their local chapter.  Engaging with your nearest 5 Rivers chapter president(s) might prove a way for your chapter to increase interest in work days and otherwise engage more young people in chapter’s advocacy work, as well.

If you don’t already engage your local youth as leaders, we encourage you to consider one of the above options.