Notes on Serving as an Novice Deliberation Coach for “Let’s Talk”
Youth Development Administration (YDA) runs an annual series of deliberative democratic forums known as “Let’s Talk.” A few years ago, it transitioned from government-led initiatives to a model where youth teams propose and run their own projects. Not all these teams have backgrounds in deliberative democracy, so YDA pairs them with professional mentors—to help optimize their deliberation processes. In this article, I share my personal notes on this mentorship experience, from early preparations before meeting the teams to what a mentor might still do after the event.