Training, Strategizing, Building Community
Each fall, the Gault Center hosts the only national gathering and training for youth defenders and advocates. The Youth Defender Leadership Summit brings together hundreds of youth defense attorneys and advocates from every state, DC, and Puerto Rico, enabling them to participate in cutting-edge training workshops, develop and share strategies to better defend youth rights, learn from experts, and network and draw strength from their community.
Summit inspires and energizes youth defenders and advocates, who often face staggering caseloads, limited resources, and a juvenile legal system fraught with racial, ethnic, and other bias. Our goal each year is that defenders leave Summit with renewed courage to keep fighting, the knowledge they have a youth defense community standing firmly behind them, and a deeper understanding of the incredible importance of their work.
This year, Summit was held virtually, with the option of youth defenders gathering in-person locally in 25-30 "Summit Beehives" hosted by youth defense leaders across the country to build community and develop strategies to actualize the ideas raised in the Summit plenary sessions in their local jurisdictions.
Agenda from our 2025 Youth Defender Leadership Summit
Gather in community. Spark bold ideas. Fuel the future of youth defense.
The Youth Defender Leadership Summit 2025 took place October 17-18 and included 6 plenary sessions, along with 4 strategy sessions tailored for youth defenders gathering either virtually or in person at one of our Summit Beehives across the country. Summit Beehives were an interactive and creative space to activate youth defense collective action as youth defenders engaged in strategic conversations on collectively shaping policy and practice implementations at a local level.
DAY ONE (Friday, October 17)
11am – 6:30pm Eastern/10am – 5:30pm Central/9am – 4:30pm Mountain/8am – 3:30pm Pacific
(Program Timing will Include Sessions & Breaks)
Session 1: Opening Program: The Art of Activism, Supreme Court Update
Session 2: Leaning into the Strength of Identities in Youth Defense Advocacy
Session 3: Facilitated Beehive Strategy Session: Practice & Policy Implications of Attacks on Identity
Session 4: Changing the Narrative in Individual Cases
Session 5: Facilitated Beehive Strategy Session: Practice & Policy Implications of Changing the Narrative
DAY TWO (Saturday, October 18)
11am – 6:00pm Eastern/10am – 5:00pm Central/9am – 4:00pm Mountain/8am – 3:00pm Pacific
(Program Timing will Include Sessions & Breaks)
Session 1: Defending Against Hypervigilance: Gun Charges, School Threats, and Transfer
Session 2: Facilitated Beehive Strategy Session: Practice & Policy Implications of Defending Against Hypervigilance: Gun Charges, School Threats, and Transfer
Session 3: Improving the Odds in Gun, School, and Transfer
Session 4: Facilitated Beehive Strategy Session: Practice & Policy Implications of Improving the Odds in Gun, School, and Transfer
Session 5: Closing Program: Building Our Collective Future
