Paving the Future: The Young Adult Volunteer Advisory Group

Paving the Future: The Young Adult Volunteer Advisory Group

The Young Adult Volunteer Advisory Group plays a critical role in securing the future of AFS-USA by championing the perspective and engagement of its youngest volunteers. Led by Annelise Depman and Christopher Bercz, the group is focused on ensuring that young volunteers (ages 32 and under) feel connected, utilized, and prepared to take on future leadership roles within AFS. Here’s a closer look at their goals, achievements, and ongoing efforts to support AFS.

Goals for the Year: Fostering Belonging and Connection

In 2025-6, the Young Adult Volunteer Advisory Group is focused on three key objectives to strengthen the youth volunteer network and its impact:

  • Outreach for Connection: Creating and facilitating a series of virtual meet-ups for younger volunteers (32 and under) to build community and a stronger sense of belonging within the organization.
  • Integrating Younger Perspectives: Continuing to seek out and incorporate the views of young volunteers into various organizational projects and collaboration efforts across AFS-USA.
  • Developing New Communication Resources: Actively creating a new toolkit focused on communication and community-building tips, driven by feedback from a recent survey of young volunteers.

Achievements from Last Year: Creating Tools for Engagement

The Young Adult Volunteer Advisory Group focused last year on building a foundational understanding of its demographic and providing tangible support tools:

  • Conducted a Comprehensive Young Volunteer Survey: Distributed a targeted survey to young volunteers to accurately gauge the successes of current programs and identify specific shortcomings in engagement.
  • Developed the Young Volunteer Engagement Toolkit: Created a resource designed to help teams effectively integrate Young Adult Volunteers and cultivate leadership skills within this demographic.

The Engagement Toolkit: A Game-Changer

One of the group’s biggest achievements has been the Young Volunteer Engagement Toolkit. This resource directly addresses the challenges local teams face in integrating and maximizing the skills of their youngest members. It identifies specific tasks that local teams need help with to involve young adults in meaningful work.

The toolkit provides specific tasks that Young Adult Volunteers can participate in to feel valued and useful, reducing the risk of isolation or underutilization. With specific feedback from team leadership and volunteers, Annelise explains, “We help teams strategize how to better engage and retain young volunteers and returnees. With time, these young volunteers will hopefully grow to want to ‘give back’ and re-engage with AFS-USA in a meaningful way, which helps in many different areas of AFS-USA.”

Tackling Challenges: Generational Tech Use and Isolation

The Young Adult Volunteer Advisory Group faces a couple challenges they are focusing on this year:

  • Navigating Generational Tech Use: One of the biggest challenges is navigating the different generations’ technology use. As society migrates away from in-person activities, the organization often thrives on traditional word-of-mouth and in-person relationships.
  • Addressing Isolation and Underutilization: Based on surveys, the group found that young adult volunteers are often isolated or underutilized in team efforts. “The challenge is figuring out how to make them feel wanted and to fully involve them in a way that is meaningful and rewarding at this stage of life.”

The Under 21 Volunteers: Get Involved

The perspective of the under 21 year olds is valuable to the organization’s future. As Youth Ambassadors, they have a unique opportunity to shape the exchange experience for their peers.

To ensure their energy and ideas are utilized, the Young Adult Volunteer Advisory Group encourages take three key steps:

  • Be involved: Join local team activities, attend meetings, a little goes a long way
  • Be positive: Bring a constructive and encouraging attitude to every volunteer effort
  • Take initiative: Identify a need or project you care about and start working on it

Your most important step is to be proactive and reach out to your local team to express your interest and ask how you can contribute. You need to let your team know you want to be involved.

Opportunities for Volunteers

The Young Adult Volunteer Advisory Group is currently seeking new members to strengthen its efforts. The group is vital to AFS because “Young people are the future of AFS!” They bring passion, new ideas, and curiosity, making teams more inclusive. Furthermore, they are the future leaders who will one day succeed the current generation of volunteer leaders.

The Advisory Group is looking for members who meet the following criteria:

  • Between the ages of 21-32.
  • A registered volunteer.
  • Committed to upholding AFS-USA’s mission for inclusion and representing young volunteers’ best interests.
  • Available on the first Tuesday of the month for a monthly evening call.

Interested in joining? Fill out the National Council Volunteer Interest Form to learn more about volunteer opportunities and how you can contribute to the AFS mission at a national level.