Partnership Principles

These Partnership Principles were developed by young people to ensure that collaborative relationships reflect young people’s expectations and hopes for genuine partnership, towards accountability to young people.

These Partnership Principles were developed by the Accountable Futures Collective Impact Board (10 young people aged 15+) in 2023.

The Partnership Principles serve as the foundation for collaborations with others, outlining the conditions essential to the Impact Board to foster alignment, effective communication, ethical and safe practices, and a commitment to youth accountability. These Partnership Principles guide AFC’s engagement with partners, ensuring shared values and a collaborative approach to creating positive impact.

Partnership Principles

There are 5 Partnership Principles, each of which are evidenced in multiple ways:

1. Alignment + Sign Off: the Impact Board formally approve and sign off all early adopters and significant partnerships

2. Commitment to Accountability: in order for the Impact Board to provide approval, partners’ senior leaders must commit to a ‘Statement of Commitment to Accountability’ to outline their genuine intention to becoming more accountable to young people

3. Values-based Practice: we seek to engage with partners who demonstrate values-based and ethical practices through their own work

4. Genuine Engagement of Young People: young people should be directly involved and engaged in the partnership

5. Clear Communication: clear avenues of communication should be established to ensure clarity of roles and responsibilities in the partnership

Statement of Commitment to Accountability

In order for the Impact Board to provide approval, partners’ senior leaders must commit to a ‘Statement of Commitment to Accountability’ to outline their genuine intention to becoming more accountable to young people. If potential partners are not accountable to young people at present, they must demonstrate genuine intent to becoming more accountable to young people throughout the partnership.

This Statement of Commitment to Accountability often serves as an important pre-partnership conversation about what accountability to young people looks like in practice.

Partners are provided with a template Statement to adapt, if desired.

View and download the Partnership Principles (v2.0), including the template Statement of Commitment to Accountability, here: