The goal of Beyond Ready is to help 10 million young people be ready for work and life. This is why the initiative is grounded in the science and practice of Positive Youth Development (PYD). This booklet provides a convenient reference guide to important resources and tools to help you design, implement, and evaluate 4-H Beyond Ready programs based on high-quality PYD.

Each entry contains a short description of the resource, why it is important for Beyond Ready, and how to use it in your programming. Included is information on where you can go to learn more and access the resource itself.

We hope you will keep this guide on hand to shape the programs you develop for Beyond Ready. The guide can also be a helpful lens to review established programs through a readiness lens.

Important Note: This guide includes information focused on Positive Youth Development and its connection to the Beyond Ready initiative. For additional resources — including toolkits, action planning guides, communications materials, events, and marketing tools — visit the Beyond Ready Resources for Leaders webpage:
4-h.org/resources/professionals/beyond-ready

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the following for their support in the preparation of this guide.

• Jessica Jens and Monica Lobenstein, University of Wisconsin–Madison Division of Extension Positive Youth Development Institute, for inspiring this guide and granting permission to adapt content from their PYD Notebook.
• Cathy Haas and the Oregon State University Extension 4-H Program, for funding the design of this guide.
• National 4-H Council, for financial support in the preparation of this guide.
• The National 4-H Beyond Ready Leadership Committee, for their support of the guide’s development.

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