The project offers a rare, evidenced-based look at how caring relationships can drive outcomes in youth development
YouthBuild Global has completed its three-year research partnership with the Boston University School of Social Work (BUSSW) to identify and promote the best practices of local YouthBuild program staff during “Mental Toughness” orientation (MTO)—students’ initial introduction to a YouthBuild program.
Supported by the John Templeton Foundation, the study examined how local program staff create environments rooted in love, belonging, agency, and high expectations when students enter their YouthBuild program, and how other programs across the network can operationalize such strategies.
The project was co-led by Dr. Antoinette Delmonico, vice president of impact and learning at YouthBuild Global, and Dr. Renée Spencer, professor and Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs at BUSSW. Together, along with members of the YouthBuild community of practice, they gathered the specific strategies, attitudes, and behaviors that help staff build trust and set a clear tone for a young person’s journey of long-term professional and personal success.
YouthBuild has long recognized that welcoming students with love is the foundation of its model and creates proven success in unlocking the potential of opportunity youth around the world. Young people between the ages of 16 and 24 who are out of school or out of work arrive at YouthBuild to reclaim their education, gain job skills and credentials, and step into leadership. Their ability to succeed is directly and intrinsically connected to the care and support they find from local staff and program leaders. This study captures what YouthBuild programs have done instinctively for decades, turning those insights into replicable training.
The research team conducted interviews, focus groups, and on-site observations with 60 program staff and alumni across 30 YouthBuild programs worldwide. A dedicated learning community of 14 program leaders provided continual guidance, ensuring the resulting curriculum reflects the strengths and realities of the entire YouthBuild network.
The training curriculum is now being scaled across the global network.
“Love—real, tangible and said aloud—is what enables young people in YouthBuild programs around the world to change their lives and communities for the better,” said John Valverde, president and CEO of YouthBuild Global. “It’s a foundational requirement that can now be operationalized with intention, consistency, and care through a robust training curriculum. I’m grateful to Dr. Delmonico for her leadership, to our Affiliated Network for their contributions, and to Dr. Spencer and the entire Boston University School of Social Work team for being such committed research partners.”
“Centering YouthBuild Love conveys to our YouthBuild community what it takes for young people to feel a sense of belonging, know they are respected, have agency and are genuinely and unconditionally cared about,” said Delmonico. “When young people feel seen by others for their potential and transformative power to change things in their own lives and in their community for the better, the possibilities for young people are boundless.”
“It is exceedingly rare to hear love spoken about in the youth development literature, as we tend to prioritize the more instrumental aspects of youth-adult relationships,” said Spencer. “But for the young people we interviewed who had been in the YouthBuild program, the genuine care they experienced from the YouthBuild staff made all the difference. It was a lifeline that kept them engaged and motivated.”
YouthBuild Global will continue supporting local programs as they embed these practices into how staff welcome and orient their young people. By naming, studying and teaching what has long set YouthBuild apart, the organization is reinforcing a model that treats love as an intentional approach to youth development —one that is central to positive, transformational outcomes for opportunity youth, with the potential to inform practice across the broader social services field.
