Values & Approach

Graphic Credit: Amanda Tanaka

i4Y is a cross-disciplinary, innovative research hub addressing issues of youth inequity through collaborative research, training and community engagement.

Globally, adolescents are facing a crisis in health and wellbeing driven by stark and rising inequalities. Reversing these inequalities will yield a triple dividend in the wellbeing of youth today, adults tomorrow, and generations to follow.

A consensus has emerged regarding the urgency of addressing youth wellbeing – particularly with respect to improving the “upstream” inequalities in health, education, and community systems that drive disparities in adolescent health.

i4Y advances youth equity through four key pillars: cross-disciplinary collaborative partnerships, community engagement & public purpose scholarship, applied training & mentorship, and centering youth voice.

Click here for our i4Y summary Overview.

Cross-Disciplinary Collaborative Partnerships

We collaborate across disciplines at UC Berkeley, engaging faculty, staff, and students from multiple schools including: the School of Public Health, School of Education, School of Social Welfare, Goldman School of Public Policy, and College of Letters and Science. Through these partnerships, we advance social innovation, human-centered design, and the skills needed to collaborate effectively with community partners.

Community Engagement & Public Purpose Scholarship

We build sustainable models of community engagement that meaningfully integrate students. This approach includes our Research Practice Partnership (RPP), a long-standing RPP with San Francisco Unified School District addressing student equity issues as well as our efforts to address how UC Berkeley can better support researchers engaged in public impact scholarship.

Applied Training & Mentorship

We provide training that offers rigorous, hands-on learning experiences that are transdisciplinary, grounded in real-world challenges, youth-oriented, and team-based. This includes our Youth Equity Discovery Initiative (YEDI), a program that provides research skills training and mentorship to undergraduates as they engage in impactful youth equity research work.

Centering Youth Voice

We address the most pressing, high-impact questions shaping adolescent wellbeing by going beyond traditional methods. Our work is driven by community-partnered science and the integration of quantitative, qualitative, and participatory approaches. This includes our Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR), an innovative approach to promoting positive community change and youth development.