So you have a great idea to create positive change in your community, and the drive to get it done. What’s next? For any project to be sustainable long-term, what you need is a team — a group that’s united by a common goal, made up of members who bring different strengths and perspectives to the table.
Sometimes a team forms naturally, as friends or neighbors hear about the project and want to get involved. Other times, finding the right people might take more work. It could happen quickly or gradually. We asked young leaders with different experiences to share their tips for assembling teams that change the world. Here’s what we learned.
Your project does not need to be perfectly thought through before others can come on board. In fact, bringing in teammates during the early stages of an initiative is almost guaranteed to make the idea stronger.
Addy Battel lives in rural Michigan, where she and her friends grew up raising animals. In middle school, they noticed the disparity in access to quality food, especially protein — while food pantries stocked cans of tuna and peanut butter, kids in farm families often had plates of home-grown beef and chicken. They decided to raise animals to be donated to the food pantry. So they designed “Meating the Need for our Village.”
Addy says team dynamics shaped the project for the better. “I am a very big-picture thinker and idea-generator,” she explains. “My friend Pearl is an extremely detail-oriented person. We both need each other to be successful.”
Instead of waiting, consider inviting a few friends to imagine the project with you. If you cultivate a shared sense of ownership among teammates, they’ll be more likely to stick around for the long haul. Plus, the project could be more inclusive as a result of your collaboration.
Whether you have a brilliant strategy to reduce food waste, or an exciting new education initiative, if you’re looking to recruit others to join your cause, the first step is creating a narrative that people want to be part of.
When they began asking more friends to get involved, “that’s where the storytelling piece came in,” Addy says. “Learning to talk about why [donating the animals] is important was really valuable, both for recruiting young people and adult donors.”
To shape the narrative, think through the “why” behind your initiative, and the past, present, and future of the project. The strongest stories (and ideas) have a compelling personal connection, along with research to back them up. Don’t forget to mention specific roles that others can play.
A couple of years after Manat Kaur started hosting workshops to help younger girls in her community grow their confidence, past participants wanted to know how they could join the team.
“Since then, I’ve had this open team set-up for anyone that wants to join,” Manat says. She doesn’t assign them work. Instead, she starts by asking: “what do you want to work on? What’s going to be the most interesting to you?”
Maybe someone is a tech whiz, artist, social media creator, or master organizer. Have an open conversation to uncover what they’re most interested in and how they might be able to fill gaps in the initiative or organization.
Manat started her project on her own. For her, the process of building a team was a journey of personal growth. The project “sort of felt like my child,” she says.
Rather than one person holding all of the information and responsibility, try to distribute it so that everyone feels empowered. This will also help lessen your mental load and prevent burnout. Even beginning with one or two things on your plate is a great start.
Addy and her co-founder Pearl are good friends. When she realized that the two had different opinions on where the project should go, Addy was nervous to bring up points of disagreement.
“We were always really scared of having those conversations,” Addy says. “I learned that conversations about what you value and where you want to go next are super important.” Those same discussions ended up shaping their bylaws.
Take time to dream together, too. Create space to hear different perspectives, evaluate the project, and envision the possibilities. Ask questions like:
“If you want a bunch of youth to come to an in-person meeting, offer some pizza. Seriously, it’s that easy,” Addy jokes. Go a step further to think about ways to build a positive team culture and welcoming space. At meetings, try starting with a wellbeing check-in. Spend five minutes doing “shout outs” to honor other team members’ contributions and character traits. Of course, having food never hurts!
Team traditions can be playful. Addy’s team has a running joke they call “weird chicken pictures.” “Almost every good picture our team has together happens to have at least one chicken in it,” she says.
Whether it’s a fun group chat, snacks, or even a silly tradition, building community is important for a thriving team — one that others are drawn to join, too.
Are you a young person with a vision to transform your community — and the world — for the better? Prudential Emerging Visionaries is a national recognition program run in collaboration with Ashoka celebrating changemakers ages 14–18 who are tackling financial and social issues in their communities. Apply here by November 4 (11:59PM ET) for the chance to win up to $15,000 in awards in addition to coaching and more, all to support your initiative!
