An important first step before revamping your approach to thanking staff is remembering the gifts they share in their roles. Youth workers spend their professional talents and time caring for children and teens; they are crucial for young people’s success and, as such, the communities they serve. Together with family members, teachers, and friends, they weave together individual webs of support for each young person. With that in mind, here are a few meaningful ways to thank your team members this year.

• Ensuring a “pay our people first approach” that invests in attracting and retaining youth-serving professionals
• Improving their healthcare benefits, paid time off, and retirement options
• Investing in their on-going professional education opportunities, and
• Offering them assistance through sustaining self-care and mental health support services

You have a team of supportive, nurturing professionals with youth development education, training, and experience that help our youth navigate significant challenges on their own paths toward a healthy, adapted adulthood. Recognition in staff or board meetings, newsletters, and social media posts are all great ways to say ‘thank you,’ but in 2023, thank you is a verb, and impactful appreciation comes with action.