About Adam Fletcher (Sasse)

About Adam Fletcher

Adam Fletcher (Sasse) is the founder and director of The Freechild Project. An internationally recognized expert in youth engagement, Adam has authored several publications and is a sought-after speaker and workshop facilitator at youth-focused events across the United States.

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, across Nebraska, Alberta, New Mexico and 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 the youth 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 critical pedagogy and youth studies in 2002 from The Evergreen State College, a public institution using democratic learning methods in every students' experience. 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. His Meaningful Student Involvement series was published between 2003 and 2005. 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. He also began his graduate studies in educational leadership and policy studies at the University of Washington. In 2006 the Washington Youth Voice Handbook was published by OSPI, and Adam contributed to a remake of Youth On Board's classic 15 Points to Successfully Involving Youth in Decision-Making. Adam also consulted on the Capstone Press Take Action series in 2008.

Late in 2005 Adam worked with a group of educators, youth workers, and researchers to form 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.

Adam has worked with more than 500 community-based organizations, government agencies, K-12 schools and districts, and universities since 2001. 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.

More information

The Freechild Project, PO Box 6185, Olympia, Washington 98507-6185 or email info@freechild.org