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About Adam
Fletcher
 Adam
Fletcher (Sasse) is
the founder and coordinator of The Freechild Project. An internationally recognized
expert in youth
engagement, Adam works with organizations and communities as
they recognize the changing roles of young people throughout society.
Born in
Calgary, Alberta, Adam grew up in North Omaha, Nebraska. As a youth
Adam was instrumental in starting a local youth-driven environmental
campaign as well as a community youth council for the low-income,
predominately African American neighborhood where he lived. His early
experiences teaching other young people about theater and nature drew
Adam towards youth work; opportunity and privilege kept him in the
field. Over the next ten years Adam worked in his own neighborhood, in
Lincoln, Nebraska, in Alberta, Canada, and then in Olympia, Washington
as a teacher/naturalist, after-school program coordinator, independent
living skills instructor, ropes challenge course director and youth
center coordinator.
During
that time Adam also served three terms in the AmeriCorps national
service program. While serving in Nebraska he developed a mentoring
program for Kurdish and Iraqi refugee students; in Washington State he
operated a ropes challenge course on the Hood Canal for students from
a transitioning military community and low-income areas of Tacoma; and
in Taos, New Mexico Adam was an AmeriCorps Leader, supporting Members
as they implemented service learning programs in area K-12 schools.
In 2000
Adam became a Youth Engaged in Service (YES) Ambassador at the
Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI).
The position was part of a fellowship program operated by the
Washington, D.C.-based Points of Light Foundation. After completing
the program Adam became OSPI's first Student Engagement Specialist.
Responding to the perceived lack of access many youth and youth
workers exclaimed regarding resources to engage youth in their
communities, Adam worked with a group of friends and colleagues across
the United States to found The Freechild Project in 2001. The popular
Freechild website launched shortly thereafter, and Adam started
providing training and technical assistance as well.
Adam received his BA in cultural studies from The Evergreen State
College in 2001. He completed the FireStarter Youth Empowerment
Curriculum in that year, as well. In 2003 he co-authored the first
edition of the Freechild Project Guide to Cooperative Games for
Social Change with Kari Kunst, Freechild's education coordinator.
In 2005 Adam co-authored the Guide to Social Change Led By and
with Young People with Freechild intern Joe Vavrus. In 2005 Adam
also became a contributing editor to the Review of
Education, Pedagogy, and Cultural Studies, an academic journal
published by Routledge.
Late in 2005 Adam worked with a group of educators, youth workers, and
researchers to found CommonAction, a national nonprofit organization
focused on youth engagement in schools and communities. He is
currently the Executive Director,
working with schools, youth organizations, foundations, and government
agencies to provide training, technical assistance, and tools
focused on youth engagement throughout society.
In 2006 Adam authored the
Washington Youth Voice Handbook, published by
CommonAction. He is also continuing to pursue his Masters in
Educational Leadership and Policy Studies from the University of
Washington. Since 2001 Adam has worked with more than 500
community-based organizations, government agencies, K-12 schools and
districts, and universities to design, implement, sustain, critically
examine and re-envision their approaches to youth engagement. He has
traveled across the U.S. and Canada, to Brazil, Scotland and the
United Kingdom to provide workshops and keynote speeches, and
publications have been cited around the world.
Adam
is currently completing the SoundOut Student Voice Curriculum.
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