OPS 9 - Urban Transformations: Youth Organizing in Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, and Washington, DC

FCYO's Occasional Papers Series (OPS) is a series of papers aiming to capture and document growing knowledge around youth organizing, and address key issues and questions commonly posed by funders and practitioners about the work and field overall. There are 11 OPS installments, which explain the theories behind youth organizing as a strategy for transformative youth development and social change, track the history of youth organizing in different regions across the United States, and uplift the individual, community and societal impacts of youth organizing.

The FCYO started the Occasional Papers Series (OPS) to promote learning and dialogue with funders, community groups, and other interested parties about youth organizing. The first installment, Papers 1 through 4, provide foundational discussions about youth organizing and its connection to youth development. The second and third installments, Papers 5 through 9 explore youth organizing in various regional contexts in an effort to deepen our understanding and continue to spark ongoing conversation.

In this final installment of the regional papers of the OPS, Urban Transformations: Youth Organizing in Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, and Washington D.C., Kohei Ishihara examines the rise of youth organizing in four metropolitan areas of the Northeast. Like the other OPS papers, this paper is the product of many minds and was developed by planning bodies representing a mix of local practitioner, intermediary and foundation perspectives. In this collaborative spirit, we hope that this paper becomes an interactive platform for further dialogue, reflection, healthy debate and action.