From the Margins to the Center: Young People Leading Sustainable Change

​About the session
What does it actually take to move young people from the margins of decision-making to the center?

​This interactive session, co facilitated by GOYN, Tostan, and young leaders, explores what authentic youth partnership looks like in practice. Drawing on lived experiences from communities in India, Kenya, and Senegal, the conversation will highlight how youth led approaches are being built and sustained across different contexts.

​Through tools such as Authentic Youth Partnership frameworks, Youth Friendly Standards, and community led development approaches, participants will reflect on where power currently sits within their own organizations and what it would take to shift it.

​This is a space for moving beyond intention to action, grounded in real world practice and experience.

​What to expect
This will be a participatory session combining storytelling, reflection, and dialogue. Participants will engage with practical examples and be invited to identify one concrete shift they can make toward more inclusive, youth led leadership.

​Who this is for
This session is for practitioners, funders, and policymakers interested in youth engagement, systems change, and building more inclusive approaches to leadership.

​What you will get out of it

• ​Real world insights into what authentic youth partnership looks like in practice

• ​Practical tools and frameworks for embedding youth leadership

• ​Space to reflect on power and decision making within your own work

• ​A clear, actionable step toward more inclusive leadership

​Featuring

• ​Atiyah Yasmin, Youth Leader and Community Engagement Manager, Head Held High Foundation (GOYN Raichur, India)

• ​Jamie McAuliffe, Founding Director, Global Opportunity Youth Network

• ​Joel Miranda, Senior Program Manager, Global Opportunity Youth Partnership, Global Opportunity Youth Network

• ​Mohamed Hemed Harith, Policy Champion, Community Leader and Assistant Project Associate, SwahiliPot Hub (GOYN Mombasa)

• ​Sobel Aziz Ngom, CEO, Tostan, leading community driven education and youth leadership initiatives across West Africa, with a focus on locally rooted approaches to social transformation

• ​Yussuf Sane, Programs Coordinator, Tostan, supporting human rights education and community led development through on the ground programme delivery and partnership engagement