If you, like the rest of us worry about leadership succession — and, more generally, about the need to bring critically thinking young people into the core of our work — you will not want to miss this next issue!             

When we first talked about doing an issue on youth development, I wondered — will all of our readers know how vitally important the topic of youth development is to them?

Frankly, I didn’t completely get it at first, myself. And then I started reading these articles and the depth of the leadership and engagement problem we are facing sank in — as did the potential of the opportunity immediately before each of our organizations.

Because, as the articles in our next issue illustrate — is not only enormous potential there to be tapped through engaging young people in the work of your organization but there is practical help available to help you to access it.

We have included here a few teaser articles for the issue. The information in them had a huge impact on my understanding. It has made me think long and hard about my own practice — that’s the kind of article I treasure.

But we want to do more than just spark your thinking. That’s why we’ve have included a new interactive component, the Nonprofit Quarterly Learning Community Forum.  In this first forum, we need to hear your experiences (both successful and unsuccessful) with involving young people in your organization. We want to pose your experiences and questions to specialists in this field of practice so we can begin a practical dialogue about what it really takes to involve youth and young adults in ways that will provide for the sustainability of our good work.

This online community is a new effort for the Nonprofit Quarterly, allowing us to take an additional step into being practically useful to you on your terms.

As we prepare to end this year, we wish you peace (with justice) and we pledge ourselves as your partners in making that happen.