Nominations are now open for the 2021 Brenda Stark Award. The Brenda Stark Award recognizes an extraordinary front-line youth development worker operating in the nonprofit arena. Deadline to nominate a Youth Worker is Friday, November 12, 2021.

Definition of Youth Worker

Youth Development Workers assist youth to navigate the challenges of adolescence and young adulthood by coordinating and/or directly providing services that support academic achievement; promote career awareness and exploration; foster positive relationships; enhance job readiness; and nurture ethical behavior during the transition to adulthood.

Eligibility

• Currently employed by a nonprofit organization that works with young people (ages 14-24) operating in Northeast Ohio;

• Primary responsibilities center around youth development (see definition);

• Nominators must be currently working at the same organization as the nominee (colleague, supervisor, director, etc.).

Evaluation Criteria

Nominators should describe how the nominee’s work demonstrates how they meet any of the following criteria:

• Provides or coordinates services to youth that may include support for academic achievement, promotion of career awareness and exploration, development of positive relationships, preparation for employment and development of ethical behavior.

• Equips young people to lead and serve;

• Utilizes best practices that support and nurture inclusivity and human resilience.

• Models what highly effective youth development workers do;

• Engages the community at-large to support youth development initiatives;

• Demonstrates positive impact on lives of young people;

• Demonstrates high level of leadership, professionalism, and integrity in the field of youth development.

• Strengthens the field of youth work by providing quality training opportunities for youth workers to maximize their investment in young people.

• Demonstrates exceptional commitment to public service and/or educational leadership.

Selection Process

The Brenda Stark Award Committee will review all submissions and select the honoree. The winner will be publically recognized at the 2022 Youth Career Olympics.

About Brenda

The Brenda Stark Award honors someone who embodies the definition of a Youth Development Worker. Youth Development Workers assist youth to navigate the challenges of adolescence and young adulthood by coordinating and/or directly providing services that support academic achievement; promote career awareness and exploration; foster positive relationships; enhance job readiness; and nurture ethical behavior during the transition to adulthood. Brenda Stark exemplified her role as a Youth Development Worker to an extraordinary degree, and this award aims at paying tribute to her legacy while celebrating her life.

Brenda Stark was a powerful, loving, life-giving presence. She was a force for hope. Brenda believed in people, in their promise, in their possibilities for growth. She especially believed in youth and devoted her life to seeing that their aspirations were realized. She was a creative, inspiring teacher who believed that education could transform the lives of the youth she cared so deeply about. Brenda took a personal interest in those she served, and as a result, the high expectations she held for them were shaped by a deep understanding of both their dreams and their personal challenges.

Brenda began her career in 1987, joining Youth Opportunities Unlimited (Y.O.U.) and serving as a Work-In Coordinator at her alma mater, Collinwood High School. She came to Y.O.U. with little experience but with a strong desire to impact the lives of “young people” as she affectionately referred to them. Charged with assisting Collinwood students to bridge the transition between school and work, she spent the next ten years skillfully assisting hundreds of students to explore and pursue careers that spoke to their passions.

By 1992, she was translating what she was learning about student motivation and about effective guidance into the design of new programs. She created “Planting the Seed,” an initiative aimed at instilling job readiness skills and behaviors in middle school students. What followed over the years was a parade of innovative programs developed by Brenda- “Project CAST”, “ProPath”, “PEEKE” (Partnerships, Exploration, Experience, Knowledge, Excellence) - all of these programs centered on the interest of each student and this exemplified her creative energy.

In 2000, Brenda left Y.O.U. to become a Training Specialist for Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC), a global non-profit education research and development organization. At EDC she continued to design and supervise career-oriented programs and curricula, but now took on greater responsibility training others to provide youth development services. Her involvement in “VOICES for Youth” for example, centered on training adult volunteers to be mentors for adjudicated youth reentering the community.

Her desire to serve young people more directly brought Brenda back to Y.O.U. in 2007. She did so admirably for a short period of time before being asked to take on a greater leadership role in the organization. Brenda’s impact was realized in the exponential growth in Y.O.U.’s summer jobs program and in the expanded integration of national best practices into Y.O.U. operations. Perhaps most importantly, Brenda’s return restored the daily inspiration that her passionate commitment offered her colleagues.

By the time of her passing, Brenda had positively affected the lives of thousands and had profoundly influenced the means by which youth development work is achieved. The Brenda Stark Award is given in recognition of an exemplary youth development worker who best embodies the work and spirit of this gifted woman.