GERGEN/VANOUREK: Search Institute a beacon for youth

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By Christopher Gergen and Gregg Vanourek

It has been said that generations are shaped by defining moments such as World War II, the Vietnam War or the countercultural movements of the 1960s. In the midst of today's recession and its attendant credit crunch, housing bust and global downturn, where does that leave today's youth - particularly the Millennial Generation, born from 1982 to 2001?

Today's youth have been getting mixed signals. On the one hand, they have come of age during a boom in business entrepreneurship (Google, YouTube and Facebook) and social entrepreneurship (Ashoka, Teach for America and microlender Grameen Bank, which earned the Nobel Peace Prize) as well as a surge in the use of communications-related technology (social networking and texting) and a growing green revolution.

On the other hand, they have been witnesses to (and, for some, participants in) two wars, Hurricane Katrina, the 2004 tsunami in Southeast Asia, an obesity epidemic, climate change and Wall Street meltdowns. They have seen multiple bubbles burst, and it has been widely predicted that today's youth will have a lower standard of living than their parents. What a difference a decade makes.

Some might read the tea leaves and predict a dim future for rising generations, but of course, that history is yet to be written. A mighty army of Barack Obama supporters is banking on fresh leadership and a mandate for change to turn a new page in our politics and reorient our priorities from conspicuous consumption and instant gratification to a pragmatic approach, addressing pressing short-term problems while also keeping an eye on the horizon.

What should we be doing to ensure that our nation's future is secure and bright, especially among rising generations of leaders who hold that future in their text-weary fingers? While some may be tempted to throw up their hands amid today's daunting array of crises and scandals, there are beacons of hope that point the way forward.

One such beacon is the Search Institute, an enterprising nonprofit in Minneapolis that promotes healthy youth and communities through its powerful framework of "developmental assets" based on research with nearly 3 million young people in North America.

Credited as having the most widely recognized approach to positive youth development in the United States, the institute mobilizes families, neighborhoods, schools, congregations and youth organizations to create an environment that supports young people, even when the world around them is reeling. It is led by Peter Benson, one of the world's leading authorities on positive human development and author or editor of more than a dozen books on child development and social change, including his latest, "Sparks: How Parents Can Help Ignite the Hidden Strengths of Teenagers." The reach of Mr. Benson and the Search Institute is astonishing - guiding more than 500 community-based initiatives in 45 states and six continents.

The institute is focused on identifying and promoting the assets that help young people make positive choices and avoid high-risk behaviors; helping them thrive by discovering the "spark" that leverages their gifts and capacities; giving them a sense of identity, purpose and belonging; and creating engaged communities that ensure that all young people have the opportunities, resources and support they need to thrive. On the ground, that involves an impressive array of practical tools, including parenting tips, tool kits for faith-based organizations, field manuals on how to hold a youth summit, groundbreaking research on spiritual development among children, conferences, webinars, awards and more.

Fortunately, the Search Institute is not alone. Lots of organizations address and engage today's youth from multiple angles, from workplace integration to community service. For example, the District-based Careerstone Group helps organizations recruit, engage, manage and retain their youngest workers so that both individuals and organizations flourish. Campus Compact is a national coalition of nearly 1,200 college and university presidents representing 6 million students and dedicated to promoting community service and community engagement in higher education.

Individually, none of this is rocket science, but together, it creates a powerful counterpunch to an age that is testing the mettle of a rising generation.

• Christopher Gergen and Gregg Vanourek are co-authors of "Life Entrepreneurs: Ordinary People Creating Extraordinary Lives" and founding partners of New Mountain Ventures, a personal leadership development firm. They can be reached at authors@ life entrepreneurs.com.