Letitia Amonini-Mirco, a UWA Psychology student, undertook an internship through the McCusker Centre for Citizenship supporting the work of the Y WA (formerly YMCA) to evaluate its social impact for young people.
A year-and-a-half on, and her contribution has helped reimagine the Y’s approach to design, delivery and evaluation of youth services in WA.
Letitia’s internship role tasked her with exploring effective ways to quantify meaningful positive change for young people.
“My research focused on identifying valid tools to measure program outcomes for The Y’s youth services. I helped The Y collect accurate data to support positive youth development and advance social impact evaluation, a stated goal of their 2023 Social Impact Rationale,” Letitia said.
Kirsten Flint, Social Impact Lead with the Y WA, was Letitia’s internship supervisor, and said Letitia’s contribution to the organisation’s social impact evaluation work should be celebrated.
“At the Y WA we have an ambition to embed evidence informed models of practice and measurement. I had been looking for a holistic approach to measuring outcomes in our youth services, and Letitia was a great support in sifting through a lot of complex research,” Miss Flint said.
“She distilled insights, consulted with our youth services team, and presented a recommendation – our Executive Team were very interested in the 5Cs Positive Youth Development model that Letitia identified in her research.
“We’ve now used the 5Cs measurement tool to collect data from about 400 young people across a range of different youth services. It’s given us a simple, compelling model which we can use to understand the impact of our services. It also gives our service teams a framework that supports reflective, intentional practice and a deeper understanding of how we can optimise services to deliver positive impact.”
Letitia has now completed study in the final semester of her Bachelor of Psychology and said that her internship with the Y had a great impact on her university experience.
“This experience gave me the chance to significantly develop my research and social impact skills, fostered my ability to work collaboratively, and inspired me to encourage others to engage in programs prioritising youth voice and wellbeing. Overall, the internship allowed me to make a positive impact in my community and build life-long connections,” she said.
“Witnessing my research being utilised by the Y has been truly surreal. My internship highlighted the importance of research in non-profit settings, as the Y empowers young people, offering them platforms for expression and pathways to independence. This experience has not only been a highlight of my academic journey, but it has also reignited my passion for research and sparked a newfound interest in making meaningful contributions.”