Measuring a Movement

NEW! Evaluation Tracks Growth of Asset Movement in Colorado and Impact of the Statewide Initiative
The culmination of a two-year evaluation by OMNI Institute, Creating Social Change: The Growth of a Statewide Movement details outcomes and processes used in measuring the spread of assets in Colorado. Download the summary (PDF).

The Youth Engagement Spiral

Asset Integration in organizations can be described as an upward moving spiral upon which groups move from pre-engagement to full engagement in incorporating a strength-based approach to working with youth.

Focus groups with youth from asset-building organizations statewide show that the asset framework facilitated youth engagement in organizations. Furthermore, youth engagement led to new supports and opportunities for young people - often identified and created by the youth themselves.

In the pre-engagement phase, an individual and/or organization does not yet have knowledge of the developmental asset framework. A youth-serving organization, for example, may be engaged in asset-building behavior, but is unfamiliar with the language of the 40 assets. Moving upward in the spiral, familiarity with the framework emerges and there is an intentional integration of the asset language and framework into youth programs and staff training.

Continuing up the spiral, a greater commitment to the asset framework is demonstrated in the infusion of the asset language in materials, information pieces, and in the development of training/curricula based on the 40 developmental assets. Further up the spiral is the commitment to infrastructure and policy changes based on the asset framework. This includes the composition of boards and advisory councils, and possibly a shift in decision-making power to include more youth and youth advocates.

Full engagement refers to action in all these arenas: materials, staff, programs, infrastructure, and policies. In the complete shift to the integration of the asset framework, asset champions will emerge, shaped by personal and professional transformations.