The College of Professional Studies’ Center for Excellence in Public Leadership and the D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation will unveil a certification program for youth development professionals early next year.
The certification will offer leadership coaching and hands-on experience to professionals working in youth programs to further their mentorship skills, according to a D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation press release. Leaders developing the certification program said it will launch in February 2025 and teach participants how to deploy conflict resolution tactics and empathy, manage trauma and work with parents and guardians.
Ina Gjikondi, the center’s director of executive education and coaching, said the program organizers aim to complete the curriculum by the end of the year, with applications opening in January. She said the first cohort will include 24 participants and run until September or October.
She said D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation Director Thennie Freeman pitched her the idea for the youth development program while completing the center’s e-Co Leadership Coaching Program two years ago. She said once Freeman became the department’s director in 2023, they began discussing what the program could look like.
“She’s like, ‘This is the project, I really want to move this project forward.’ And her vision not only she wants to support people in the city, but also people in this region,” Gjikondi said.
Jim Robinson, the center’s executive director, said the center began planning for the program in October with two focus group sessions featuring about 60 people who work in youth development fields to solicit feedback on what skills and features the curriculum should include. He said the program’s leaders are working with Sandra Vanderbilt, a research assistant professor in the Graduate School of Education and Human Development, to sift through feedback from the focus groups and develop the program’s curriculum.
Gjikondi said Vanderbilt will give the center and DPR a report of her initial findings this week, before future meetings, to determine what should be included in the curriculum and details like if sessions will be in-person, virtual or both.
Robinson said the program is looking for professionals working in the DPR like camp counselors, school-related officials, aquatic center employees, other D.C. government departments and leaders from nonprofit organizations and religious organizations to participate in the program. He said having participants from different backgrounds allows them to share ideas and resources with each other.
“‘Oh, I didn’t know that you all did that. Oh, I didn’t know that was happening over there. Oh, I didn’t know you had that resource. I need that resource for my kids over here.’ Those are some of the connections that we want to make happen,” Robinson said.
Robinson said the program will have “no problem” attracting applicants, as there was strong interest in the program at the focus group events and the center’s large alumni network will promote the program.
“I think we’re blessed in that we have an extensive alumni network,” Robinson said. “Also, Director Freeman, from her work in the District of Columbia. She has a vast network of people that she works with.”
Robinson said the School of Business founded the center more than 25 years ago to develop leadership and executive education programs for employees in the D.C. government, which at the time faced financial and leadership challenges. He said the center moved to CPS in 2005 after expanding its offerings, including programs for students who work in federal jobs and other municipalities outside of the District.
“Our portfolio really broadens quite a bit, but the mission is still to develop public leaders who make a positive difference in their agencies and for the people in their organizations and for the people that they serve, and that mission still holds true today,” Robinson said.
Robinson said he hopes the program opens a pathway for the center to create additional programs to address other community needs like training for violence interrupters and to partner with the Honey W. Nashman Center for Civic Engagement to make their programs applicable to undergraduate students.
“We’d like to do more of these kinds of things, and there’ll be other opportunities, but that’s one of the ways I think that will impact us and impact not only our center, but impact the whole College of Professional Studies,” Robinson said.
Freeman said the program’s goal is to train participants how to be flexible in their approach to managing young people, since each child has their own way of responding to situations.
“When you are coaching, educating, developing, empowering, mentoring young people, the skills you had the day before may be different today, and understanding that you have to be fluid, you have to be able to read, to take social cues, you have to create safe spaces for young people,” Freeman said.
She said the program fills a void in professional development opportunities since people want to receive certification and development in working with children, but there are few programs available.
The D.C. Office of Out-of-School Time Grants and Youth Outcomes also offers professional development opportunities and workshops for professionals working in youth programs. The program is the only one among D.C. universities that is specifically for youth development workers, according to a Hatchet analysis of program offerings from universities in the District.
“We wanted to equip anyone who works with youth with the tools to make sure that they are leading youth correctly because ultimately, today’s youth are tomorrow’s adults,” Freeman said.
