About Youth Development Strategies, Inc.

Our Mission
YDSI is a national nonprofit research, evaluation and technical assistance organization that helps communities improve long-term outcomes for their youth. We work with local organizations and institutions (e.g., city and state agencies, private foundations, schools, after-school programs, CBOs) to design, implement and evaluate strategies based on the "youth development approach" to working with young people – building on their strengths, rather than focusing on their weaknesses. Our products include research publications, assessment instruments, conference presentations, workshops and seminars.


Who We Are

the Framework was developed by Michelle Gambone and James Connell. Click here for more information. Dr. Michelle Alberti Gambone, President of YDSI, along with a national team of consultants have both technical expertise in all areas of research, and a broad range of substantive expertise, including: youth development and youth policy; program effectiveness; evaluation of comprehensive community initiatives; systems reform; early childhood, elementary, secondary and adult curriculum and instruction; and technology applications for information management and reporting.

The team has particular expertise and interest in designing and implementing theory of change evaluations, which is based on mapping the linkages between community strategies, intermediate outcomes and long-term outcomes for youth and communities.

Drawing on our national team provides YDSI the flexibility to deliver for each project the needed mix of experience levels, technical and substantive expertise.


What We Do
The organization’s work focuses on three types of activities:
   
1. 1. Conducting and disseminating research supporting the use of a developmental approach to serving youth;
2. 2. Evaluating the effectiveness of organizations and institutions in helping youth attain desired outcomes; and
3. 3. Developing and providing technical assistance and tools to funders, managers, planners, evaluators and technical assistance providers working to measure and improve the quality of services to youth.


Current Efforts
Developing a web-based system for assessing program quality and generating plans for organizational improvement;
Working with the Innovation Center and SPR to guide organizational improvement and explore the relationship between developmental supports and opportunities and civic engagement;
Creating, with support from the W. T. Grant Foundation, a set of practical indicators and measures of progress for use by efforts to support youth development; and
Developing, with the National Youth Employment Coalition, a tool for assessing the quality of youth development and employment training programs.


Contact Us

For more information about YDSI please contact:

Youth Development Strategies, Inc.
4 Kosco Court
Hamilton, NJ 08610

Email: info@ydsi.org
Phone: 609.838.2636
Fax: 609.581.1578

Dissemination Guidelines
email:  info@ydsi.org
phone:  609.838.2636
fax:  609.581.1578
Youth Development Strategies, Inc.
4 Kosco Court
Hamilton, NJ 08610