CULTIVATINGINNOVATIVETEEN-LEADERSHIPPROGRAMMING: BUILDING EVIDENCE OF IMPACT Open Access

The Teen Excellence in Leadership Institute (TELI) was created to provide meaningful leadership and civic- engagementexperiencestoteens.WeintegratedChickering’sTheoryofIdentityDevelopmentandthe 4-H Citizenship Framework to develop program objectives and a model, consisting of four components: understanding of self, developing a network, community problem solving, and advocacy. This study aimed to determinetheoveralleffectivenessoftheprogram,highlightareasforprogramimprovement,andprovide a proof of concept for the model. Results on select 4-H Citizenship Common Measures indicated statistically significantgainsinthefourcomponentsofthemodelforcohortsoneandtwo.Focusgroupdatarevealed five themes: diversity, connection, skill development, practical application, and learning about self. Evaluative resultssubstantiateprogramimpactandareasforcontinuedprogramdevelopment.