Download The Boston Alliance of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Youth

BAGLY is a youth led, adult supported social support
organization committed to social justice and creating,
sustaining and advocating for programs, policies and
services for the LGBTQ youth community
 MISSION
… to create a safe space … cultivate values of Respect,
Diversity, Social Justice, and Youth Leadership … build a
strong, youth led, social justice community… for LGBTQ
youth between the ages of 14 and 21
 HISTORY
Founded in 1980, BAGLY has served over 30,000 teens
and some of its first programs have served as models for
youth-led programs across the country. These programs
include the nation’s first prom for LGBTQ youth, youth
led HIV/AIDS education, and the Youth Speakers Bureau.
① Programming
Five Areas of Focus: Leadership Development, Health
Promotion (via the Health Education and Risk Reduction Team),
Social Support & Community Building, the GLBT Youth
Group Network of Massachusetts, and the Clinic @ 620
(provides sexual health services)
② Collaboration
Collaborative relationship building with community
resources is a hallmark of BAGLY’s programming. BAGLY
is part of local and national networks (made up of
individuals, institutions, and organizations) that work together
to impact LGBTQ youth.
③ Advocacy
BAGLY partners with a wide range of organizations
(local and national) to develop policy agendas that
support the needs of LGBTQ youth in areas such as:
LGBTQ hate crime violence & school bullying,
homelessness, health access, sex education, rights of
minors, etc.
③ Technical Assistance & Training
BAGLY provides professional training, technical assistance,
and speaking engagements (on a one time or ongoing basis) for
high schools, colleges, LGBTQ-specific and mainstream
organizations focusing on areas such as: cultural
competency building, program development, social media
proficiency, health promotion, youth leadership
development, etc.
 Youth
Leadership Committee
The YLC is made up of 10 members who are voted into
office by BAGLY’s youth members twice a year. The
committee is responsible for 1) Designing and running
the center’s weekly meeting; 2) Hospital annual
program events; and 3) Engaging in youth advocacy and
organizing participation in community events
 Weekly Responsibilities
BAGLY’s fundamental service is its Wednesday night
meeting, from 5 pm to 9 pm, made up of 4 one-hour
meetings (see logic model for details)
 Annual
Activities
In addition to organizing BAGLY’S annual events, YLC
members also host and attend: the Youth Leadership
Retreat (2/yr), the BAGLY Speakers Bureau state-wide
trainings (2/yr), and the Youth Leadership Institute (1/yr)
This evaluation will focus on BAGLY’s Leadership
Development initiative; Specifically, 1) the
impact of participation in the YLC on the
individual committee members; 2) the
differential impact of the YLC on the BAGLY
youth members; 3) the impact of the Leadership
Development initiative on BAGLY’s short and
medium outcome goals. By addressing these
three aspects, the Leadership Development
initiative will be evaluated comprehensively.
The evaluation will consist of 1) in-depth semistructured interviews of the YLC members; 2)
focus groups of BAGLY members; and 3) focus
groups of BAGLY staff
 Part
1: Process Evaluation
 Part
2: Outcome Evaluation
Research Questions:
1. Are the intended services being provided by YLC and how
well?
2. What populations is the YLC successful in reaching? What
populations are they unsuccessful in serving?
3. BAGLY Youth Members’ Satisfaction with YLC programming
topics and activities
4. What is the differential experience of participating in a
youth-led organization (compared to adult-led)
Research Questions:
1. What is the impact/experience of holding a leadership
position in a social justice organization on individual
YLC members?
 Mixed

Methods:
Quantitative
# in Attendance @ Wednesday meetings
# in Attendance @ annual events
# of applicants for YLC board positions

Qualitative
Focus Groups of BAGLY Members (topic: Wed meetings)
Satisfaction with Wednesday meetings
Satisfaction with themes of programming (meeting
discussions)
Perception of/Attitudes towards YLC members
(Exploratory)
Focus Groups of BAGLY Staff (topic: recruitment)
Current efficacy of recruiting and outreach efforts
Populations that BAGLY is not reaching
Suggestions for improvements
 Qualitative:
In-Depth Interviews with all YLC members (topic: experience
serving in a leadership position at BAGLY)
Changes/Impact on psychosocial wellbeing
Changes/Impact on outlook for future
Changes/Impact on knowledge and skills
Perceived impact of participation in YLC
Changes in sense of community & support
 Sampling Strategies for Process & Outcome:
Process Evaluation
Probability Sampling of BAGLY members/staff (with
small cash incentive to participate) will be used to
create focus groups
Outcome Evaluation
Purposive Sampling is used; ideally all YLC members
who are able and willing will participate
 Research
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Q’s, Constructs, and Metrics
Are the intended services being provided by YLC and how well?
Qualitative metrics (see slide 9)
What populations is the YLC successful in reaching? What populations
are they unsuccessful in serving?
Construct: Ability to reach target population
define target population; assess coverage of target
population; identify significant populations
underrepresented in BAGLY youth members
BAGLY Youth Members’ Satisfaction with YLC programming topics and
activities
Construct: Members’ satisfaction
frequency of attendance, increases in relevant
knowledge/awareness, appeal of programming topics and
activities, changes in attitudes towards sexuality
What is the differential experience of participating in a youth-led
organization (compared to adult-led)
Exploratory, open ended questions
What is the impact/experience of holding a leadership position in a
social justice organization on individual YLC members?
Exploratory, open ended questions
 Quantitative
Compare values to past years’ and other similar youth-led
LGBTQ organizations
Compare values to mainstream adult-led LGBTQ organizations
 Qualitative:
inductive strategy
Focus Groups: Identify major themes in discussion on an
ongoing basis to help inform future focus group guidance
In-depth interviews: identify major themes and code transcript
for analysis
 Hypothesis
This youth-led organization’s leadership development
initiative 1) increases the leadership skills and is correlated
with positive personal development; and 2) contributes to
the sense of community and is correlated with an increase
in knowledge of youth members
 Potential
Findings:
• The program is reaching its target audience, though there
likely are at-risk populations unaware of BAGLY’s services
• Members are generally satisfied with programming; the
evaluation may identify gaps in programming that could be
improved upon
• The youth-led aspect of BAGLY contributes uniquely to the
experience of belonging to the community
• Increases in satisfaction with sexual identity, sense of
belonging, self-efficacy can be attributed to participation
in the YLC