Champion of Change Leigh Ann Luttrell
Director, Asset Builders Alliance
"Children are living messages we send to a time we will not see." (quote by John W. Whitehead) is one I think about daily. What messages are we sending young people about their role, their value and how to be successful? Quick quiz…How many kids’ names do you know on your street? When was last time you spoke to the teen bagging your groceries? How do you respond to the “scary looking” young person at the mall? How we respond to and engage youth translates into their attitudes and behaviors—and their success.
The Asset Builders Alliance is a collaborative founded by Boy Scouts-Dan Beard Council, Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Cincinnati, Girl Scouts of Western Ohio, and the YMCA of Greater Cincinnati funded by United Way of Greater Cincinnati in January 2007. Our mission is to mobilize the greater Cincinnati region around the Developmental Assets research and promote a shift from reacting to young people with problems to engaging them so they can thrive.
The Search Institute's Developmental Asset (www.search-institute.org) identifies 40 key ingredients or building blocks (assets) that young people need to grow up healthy, caring and responsible. As an Alliance we are committed helping the community understand the needs of the young people, provide training on effective strategies for addressing these needs, and offering opportunities to work together.
In Fall 2006 the Alliance gave 6,300 7th and 11th graders a voice through the Attitudes and Behaviors survey. Our goal was to identify which assets local youth are experiencing and how we can better SUPPORT them. The findings served as baseline information for the Striving Together report card (Goal 2) and has already informed the work of multiple Student Success Networks and other community groups and partners. Nationally and locally, young people are not getting what they need to be able to succeed. The work of the Alliance enhances the work of Strive—by promoting a common language of positive youth development and acknowledging that it takes big and small efforts made by all institutions to really support kids.
I am a parent, a youth worker, a church volunteer, an aunt, a neighbor, a community member—and what integrates them all is that I am an asset builder. We must all see ourselves as educators—not just within facility walls, but beyond and not just through programs but as a lifestyle. My challenge to us—let’s be creative in involving young people in the process, in asking their opinions and allowing them to become change agents along side us.
To find out more about the survey findings, training opportunities or how to connect with a county Alliance visit www.ouraba.org.