Leadership development at the WVPRC is a statewide initiative working to promote youth/adult partnerships in local community efforts to develop and encourage the potential for leadership in youth across WV.

Youth play an important role in presenting the prevention message. The WVPRC supports local community efforts to engage youth as leaders. This is promoted through partnerships with youth/adult initiatives across the state.

Youth leadership development at the WVPRC is based on several guiding principles:

1. Lessons learned in leadership development are essential to healthy youth development
2. All people have potential to learn and develop skills to become effective leaders
3. Developing leadership capacity of youth is vital to the success of sustainable community change.

Our vision for developing youth as leaders is to have leadership to continue a sustainable, effective and efficient prevention system in West Virginia .

Our goal is to increase youth involvement in leadership roles and other civic responsibilities by promoting the importance of utilizing youth in community, agency and organization decision-making and strengthen the capacity of youth to accept responsibility as leaders in their community. A central component to accomplishing this goal is promoting youth/adult partnerships.

• Operates Youth Leadership Network website (www.prevnet.org/leadnet)
  “Youth making a SPLASH on WV”
• Provide leadership trainings for youth that focuses on prevention education and ongoing community youth involvement
  
• Offer technical assistance to regional youth leadership activities and events
  
• Provide technical assistance to youth trained in leadership skills to assist them in integrating their skills and knowledge into community prevention programming

To find out more about the research and concepts behind our initiative read:

“Preparing West Virginia’s Leaders” (Adobe PDF)