Youth-Adult Equity Work Highlighted Nationally

Kristin Kappelman, left, and Samantha Reynoso at the 2025 American Evaluation Association Conference.

Milwaukee Succeeds’ work to advance youth-adult equity is being recognized on a national stage.

Samantha Reynoso, research and evaluation manager, and Kristin Kappelman, director of research, were recently invited to write a blog post on the subject for the American Evaluation Association, a national association devoted to the practice and advancement of evaluation. Their post, titled Reimagining Leadership: Advancing Youth-Adult Equity & Partnership, was published on Tuesday, January 6.

In the blog, Reynoso and Kappelman explain that youth-adult equity has been central to Milwaukee Succeeds’ high school success work since it was named as a strategic priority area back in 2019. They reflect on the need for organizations to move beyond intention and examine how power is actually shared with young people.

That need led to the creation of the Youth Adult Equity Ladder Assessment. Grounded in Roger Hart’s youth participation ladder, the assessment helps organizations pause, reflect and name where they are today. It also offers a path forward by prompting deeper conversations and local examples of success.

 “It seeks to empower organizations, schools and community programs to introspectively evaluate the extent to which they genuinely include and respect the voices of young individuals,” they wrote.

At its core, the assessment supports a simple but powerful idea: Young people belong at decision-making tables. When youth are trusted as partners, stronger systems and better outcomes follow.

Read the full post on the American Evaluation Association blog.