Overview of Trainings

The Soul Rebels Professional Development Series is designed to provide training, supports and tools to youth-serving programs that will develop a system of trauma-informed, equity-focused, healing-centered youth development programs. The Series includes a four-part training that introduces youth development professionals to three key concepts: equity, trauma-informed approaches and healing justice. 

• Soul Rebels I: The Making of Trauma-Informed, Equity Focused, Healing Justice Practitioners This workshop lays the groundwork for the full Soul Rebels Series, introducing youth development professionals to the core concepts of equity, community-level trauma-informed practice, healing justice with a focus on collective healing, and radical healing frameworks through a systems lens. 

• Soul Rebels II: Trauma-Informed Approaches This workshop centers trauma-informed practice as an approach to youth development work. Participants examine trauma-informed frameworks and strategies, identify the signs and symptoms of, and common responses to, trauma, and review the developmental impact of adverse childhood experiences. This workshop emphasizes the role of self-care within trauma-informed approaches. 

• Soul Rebels III: Improving Youth Outcomes by Improving Equity in Youth-Serving Programs (We Got Y’all) This workshop focuses on equity within programs as a means of improving youth outcomes and facilitating positive development. Participants examine equity within youth-serving programs using NOYA’s equity analysis tool, explore their own personal and cultural lenses. Participants also learn strategies to improve equity, with a focus on culturally relevant pedagogy/culturally responsive teaching. 

• Soul Rebels IV: Healing Justice in Youth-Serving Organizations This workshop reviews the concept of healing justice and explores radical healing as a framework for healing-centered youth development. Participants engage in elements of radical healing practices and work to identify strategies to implement radical healing practices in youth serving programs.

Authentic Youth Engagement: Co-created by NOYA Youth Leadership Fellows, this training builds on the existing Youth Voice training with a focus on how to truly support young people as they lead the design, decision-making, and implementation phases of initiatives. 

Community Organizing 101: Led by NOYA Youth Leadership Fellows, this training provides an overview of organizing models, examines the basic principles of community organizing and explores organizing strategies and how to apply them from a youth-centered lens. 

MHA Labs Soft Skills Workshops: NOYA has partnered with YouthForce NOLA to offer these interactive and hands-on courses that provide participants with practical skills that are geared to improve the quality of interactions with youth. With strong skill-building relationships, more and more young people will be prepared to pursue and achieve their ambitions. 

Queer-Inclusive Youth Engagement I: The Queer-Inclusive Youth Engagement Series is designed to resource youth work professionals in Greater New Orleans with tools to integrate LGBTQ-inclusive pedagogy among youth programs. Rooted in cultural competency, this workshop focuses on advanced conceptual knowledge of gender and sexuality, data on health and wellness outcomes of LGBTQ youth and strategies for creating inclusive culture and curricula in youth serving programs. 

Youth Work Method Series: The workshops in the Youth Work Methods series are aligned with the Youth PQA. After gathering data from a Youth Program Quality Assessment and creating a plan for improvement through participation in a Planning With Data training, program managers can choose to offer trainings to program staff that are aligned to the Improvement Plan. These interactive and hands-on courses provide participants with practical skills that are geared to improve the quality of interactions with youth.

• Active Learning: Do you know the difference between active learning and “hands-on” learning? Giving youth materials is just the beginning. This interactive workshop introduces strategies for incorporating active learning, and helps participants create more powerful learning opportunities for youth.

• Ask Listen Encourage: Do you communicate with youth in a way that makes them feel supported and heard? This workshop introduces communication techniques that help you build more supportive, youth- centered relationships. Participants learn how to ask effective questions, to listen actively to youth, and offer youth encouragement rather than praise.

• Building Community: Do you know what it takes to build an emotionally and physically safe space for youth? Building an emotionally safe community of peers and adults is essential for youth to learn and develop as individuals. This interactive workshop will introduce participants to a variety of activities designed to support the community building process.

• Cooperative Learning: Do the youth in your program have opportunities to work together in groups, teaching and learning from each other? Cooperative learning is an excellent way to nurture youth leadership, build community, and keep things fun. This interactive workshop will equip participants with grouping strategies and ways to think about building cooperative learning into any program offering. 

• Intro to Active-Participatory Approach: This workshop will teach participants how to recognize best practice behaviors, identify the four guiding principles of the Approach and incorporate aspects of the Approach into their planning.

• Planning and Reflection: Are you engaging youth in the critical life skills of planning and reflection? Are you ready to be more intentional about including planning and reflection strategies into your daily activities but not sure where to start? This workshop introduces participants to powerful and easy to use methods that promote youth engagement in planning, implementing, and evaluating activities and projects.

• Reframing Conflict: What role do you play in conflict situations in your program? Do you know how to turn a conflict situation into an opportunity for growth? This interactive workshop introduces participants to a step-by-step model for reframing conflict as well as general principles of conflict resolution.

• Self-Regulated Learning / Homework Help: This course focuses on making homework help time effective by helping youth get organized, by providing an atmosphere that helps youth focus on their work, and by building a supportive relationship with youth. These elements help participants reconsider Homework Help as an opportunity to build relationships and nurture positive growth, beyond getting the work done. 

• Structure and Clear Limits: How do you prevent chaos in a youth environment without stifling the positive energy of youth? Youth need structure and clear limits in order to feel safe. This interactive workshop helps participants analyze the level of structure in their programs and practice identifying and maintaining clear limits. 

• Youth Voice: Are you providing young people with authentic, meaningful choices throughout your program? Does your program reflect the input of the youth involved? Research shows that quality programs incorporate youth input at both activity and organizational levels. This workshop will emphasize the importance of offering real choices and meaningful participation to youth, and nurturing youth leadership.