Ideal for: Public Health Professionals, Social Workers, Nurses, Educators

Are you looking for actionable ways to advance social justice in your community? During this seven-week course, participants will be expected to critically analyze how power, privilege, and oppression operate in their own lives—and participate in conversations regarding how they can disrupt systems of power that oppress young people. This course will offer a mix of critical reflection, skill-building, applied practice, and tools and resources that will enable participants to be an advocate for youth.

Social justice youth development is focused on creating equitable opportunities for all youth and building awareness of how systems of power can oppress particular young groups. Social justice for youth engagement involves the use of intentional anti-oppressive practices for young people, as well as providing knowledge and skill-building as they negotiate and disrupt the misuses of power in their lives.

Are you ready to be challenged to move your youth engagement work forward?

What to Expect

We use a flipped-classroom approach, so you’ll work through course content independently and then connect with a small cohort of peers weekly for live learning sessions that provide an opportunity to ask questions, share your knowledge, and learn from others.

7 Live Learning Sessions: Thursdays Noon-1:30pm (MST)

Each session will include a facilitated discussion among class participants related to that week’s topic. A subject matter expert will lead the discussion, engage participants, and answer questions. This is a unique opportunity to connect concepts of evidence-based decision-making in your daily work! Below is the schedule for our live sessions.

Successful completion of this course requires your participation in these sessions by video using a webcam or built-in camera on your device. Contact us if you need assistance accessing a webcam.

Weekly Online Learning Activities

Each week, you must complete assigned online learning activities that include reading and watching videos. There will also be a short assignment in preparation for each live learning session that should take about an hour to complete.

Course Access

Look for an email from us 2 weeks before your first live session with instructions on how to access the course online. If you don’t see an email (don’t forget to check your spam folder), email registration.rmphtc@ucdenver.edu. Make sure you sign in prior to your first live session to complete the required activities and ensure you know how to connect with your camera.

We strive to host inclusive and accessible events that enable all individuals, including those with disabilities to engage fully. Please let us know of any accommodations that will assist your full participation.

By the end of this training, participants will be able to:

• Know the Literature: Summarize key social justice youth development practices.
• Define the Issue: Describe “adultism” and how it operates in our culture and system.
• Action Plan: Critique your organizational setting’s practice of community youth development and offer evidence-based recommendations for more youth participation.
• Disrupt Adultism: Practice being an ally for young people within your organization and community.
• Execute Lessons: Deliver teachings designed to engage youth in discussions related to social and health inequities and systemic approaches to community social action.

Click the green "register button" in the top left of the page to register for the course. You will need to log in or create an account. 

Creating an account will not automatically register you for this training. You will need to re-open this page and register. Registration is limited to individuals from Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, or Wyoming. Please email registration.rmphtc@ucdenver.edu with registration questions.

Please email registration.rmphtc@ucdenver.edu with registration questions. 

Heather is a youth engagement activist and scholar. As an activist, she has created over a dozen youth leadership groups and engaged teens in local, state, and federal policy advocacy. As a scholar, she is involved in a variety of community-engaged research and teaching activities. Heather earned her PhD at the University of Denver Graduate School of Social Work. She has several peer-reviewed publications advancing the knowledge base for high-quality youth-adult partnerships. At 17, Heather learned the power of her own voice, and ever since she has been a stalwart advocate for supporting adults to engage youth authentically.