isna

ISNA YOUTHDEV'S CENTER FOR POSITIVE YOUTH DEVELOPMENT

Youth are not the future, they are the Present!  They are who we must develop, train and place in strategic community leadership positions to lead our communities today and tomorrow!  ISNA, for over 35 years has had this focus in action and through its YouthDev Dept and Muslim Youth of North America (MYNA) program.  These platforms have provided youth with the leadership, experience and positive youth development needed in order to be the leaders of today.

However we realize that even with our national reach, it is communities that play the most significant role in youth development.  Communities provide the monthly, weekly and daily connection between youth and their positive development.  ISNA was built on the philosophy of being a national resource.  To serve communities by Connecting, Upskilling. Resourcing, and Opening doors for them to grow even stronger.

And so ISNAs YouthDev has initiated the nation’s first ever Center for Positive Youth Development (C-PYD).  A full end to end consulting service & resource development program.  It is developed for communities and centers across North America to initiate, improve, grow, and transform their youth programs and services into Centers for Positive Youth Development!

Here is an Outline of C-PYD for communities:

PHASE 1 - Survey

  • We have developed 3 surveys.  One for each important level of community input that we need in order to develop the Programs & Services (P&Ss) for PYD.

    • Masjid / Center Survey:  This will give us key information from the actual masajid & centers in a community.  Providing a snapshot of the current resources available and goals moving forward.

    • Community Adults Survey:  Through this survey we will gain valuable intel from the adults in the community who serve as

      • Parents of youth who will be recipients of the PYD P&Ss

      • Resources & Volunteers who will support the youth and the PYD P&Ss once implemented

      • Donors who will provide a key element in the sustainability of these P&Ss

      • And Advocates for the development and growth of the P&Ss

    • Youth Survey:  Through this survey we will gather key information from the current and future recipients of the P&Ss.  Providing a picture of the environment and framework of the desired P&Ss that will be developed for them.

PHASE 2 - Assessment and Consultation

  • We will reach out to communities that have provided enough survey responses and begin the assessment process which  includes discussions with some of the survey responders as well as the Masjid/Islamic Center itself and coming up with a comprehensive list of requirements your community is looking to create for their Youth Development needs.  Upon agreement discussions, our team will begin the consultation process for the community and move onto Plan Development.

PHASE 3 - PYD Plan Development

  • Once the assessment triage is complete, our team of Positive Youth Development subject-matter expert staff will develop the resources, toolkits, and plans for communities to turn their youth programs & services into Centers for Positive Youth Development.

PHASE 4 - Deployment

  • Here our team will work directly with key stakeholders within communities to deploy the C-PYD toolkits & resources to your community.

PHASE 5 - Support & Preview

  • In order to ensure toolkits and resources are achieving their success metrics, we will create a review and support process to ensure that pivots can be made as they are a reality of individual community identities.

So to kick Phase 1 off, we have created three surveys.  One for youth, one or adults and one for staff and key stakeholders of Islamic Centers and Masajid.  So we urge you all to take a few mins and fill out your survey.  Fill a survey for your community, for your youth, and for our future and help make your community a Center for Positive Youth Development.