"We believe no young person should have to answer life’s important questions alone."  
Dr. Josh Packard is the Executive Director of Springtide Research, which has produced some important research into belonging among 13-to-25-year-olds.   
Springtide: https://springtideresearch.org  
More on Josh Packard: https://twitter.com/drjoshpackard  
Book: Belonging: Reconnecting America’s loneliest generation 
https://springtideresearch.org/product/belonging-reconnecting-americas-loneliest-generation
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👨‍👩‍👧 YOUTH NEED TRUSTED ADULTS 
The need for trusted adults in the lives of young people—(13 to 25)—is as important as ever. Their trust in adults and their institutions, however, is cratering at an alarming rate.   
This is happening across sectors, as well—from religion to government to health care to education and more.   
According to Josh, to truly address the issues, we need to approach the issue not as one to be fixed in the micro context of any one particular institution but as a systemic, sociological one.    
👀 PEOPLE NEED TO FEEL SEEN 
I'm interested in big picture challenges, but only if it helps us understand what you can do, right now, today, within your own organization or community.   
For this, Josh has a construct he calls "Notice, Name, Know."  His organization's research kept coming back to a sentiment that people don't trust organizations because they don't feel like anyone knows them or cares about them.   
When an organization relies too much on broadcasting on communications and gatherings that don't facilitate real connection, people are likely to end up feeling forgotten.   
The antidote? Find specific ways to show people that you do see them, you do care about them, and you do value what they think and need.   You might be able do this by adding some very simple facilitated activities to your existing event programming. (For help with that, reach out to me to learn more about my strategy services! Links are below.)  
You might also make progress by assessing the members of your community and identifying the ones most in need of re-engagement.   
🔍 FOCUS ON THE MARGINS  
"If you really want to stem the tide of loneliness, you want to focus on the folks on the margins. Go to those young people who have zero or one connection. If you focus on the edges, that builds a firewall that goes along the margins and works its way back to the group."  
While much progress can be made focusing on the "super-members" who are most actively engaged in a given community, Josh recommends looking to those on the margins—the people who have zero-to-one connections. The ones less engaged.   
While reaching them might be harder, the ones you're able to sit with can give you rich insight into a perspective on how to create opportunities for many others.  
As a leader, if you go straight to the people who are the least likely to feel you care about them, and show them just how much you truly see them and care about their needs, you can lay a critical firewall of trust that will echo throughout the rest of your community.  
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👋 HEY THERE! I'M TONY.  
I'm on a mission to show people the best and easiest ways each of us can cure the world's epidemic of loneliness.   
Follow my journey to learn about the resources I'm creating:  
http://tonybacigalupo.com 
http://twitter.com/tonybgoode 
http://instagram.com/tonybgoode 

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