The VCU Advanced Certificate in Youth Development Management is a professional learning program that strengthens the skills, leadership capacity, and long-term career success of youth development and health service professionals. Participants build practical expertise to succeed as caregivers, mentors, educators, healthcare providers, program leaders, and designers of safe, supportive youth spaces. Led by highly experienced youth-engagement professionals, this nontraditional, community-centered credential advances best practices for supporting young people while strengthening career pathways and longevity.
The non-credit program is administered by the VCU Mary and Frances Youth Center, a part of the VCU Division of Community Engagement.
Engaging in Youth Development Across Virginia
Starting in Summer 2026, the Mary and Frances Youth Center will offer a hybrid cohort version for youth program and health service staff and leaders across Virginia. This expansion will create a learning community that supports both emerging and experienced youth development professionals throughout the Commonwealth.
Those outside of the Richmond region will have the opportunity to take part in a hybrid cohort that expands access, strengthens connections, and keeps participants grounded in their home communities. Through a blend of in-person intensive sessions and virtual learning, the hybrid cohort runs alongside the Richmond (VCU) cohort. Combined, both cohorts seek to build a statewide network of youth development and health service professionals.
One-Week Summer Residential Retreat.
June 21st to 26th, 2026
A signature feature of the hybrid cohort will be an immersive five-day residential summer retreat hosted at the Virginia Commonwealth University Rice Rivers Center located in Charles City, VA, just thirty minutes outside the city of Richmond.. The retreat will serve as the hybrid program’s launch point, establishing both the learning community and the foundational skills needed for the certificate year.
Cohort members will:
- Live and learn together in a focused residential environment.
- Engage in intensive facilitated sessions, team-building activities, and reflective practice.
- Learn from guest facilitators and practitioners.
- Participate in outdoor experiential learning connected to youth development, leadership, and community systems.
- Establish strong relationships that sustain collaboration throughout the year.
Year-Round Virtual Engagement
Following the summer retreat, the hybrid cohort will continue to meet over a series of virtual seminars to sustain momentum, deepen learning, and support the real-world application of new skills. A tenet of the VCU Advanced Certificate in Youth Development Management is its facilitated sessions led by experienced local practitioners and subject-matter experts. The hybrid cohort will share in, and build upon, this signature feature, learning from invited facilitators who may also serve as mentors for career growth and further professional development opportunities.
Retreat Location, Room and Board
The VCU Advanced Certificate In Youth Development Management Statewide Hybrid Retreat will take place at VCU Rice River Center in Charles City, Virginia from June 21st to 26th.
In-Person Requirements
All Hybrid Cohort Members are required to attend the five-day in-person retreat.
Virtual Requirements
Coursework outside of the Hybrid Retreat will be delivered via Zoom and will follow the MFYC cohort schedule. All Hybrid Cohort Members are required to attend at least 5 virtual Fall sessions, 5 virtual Spring sessions and 4 virtual Summer sessions. Zoom sessions will be recorded for participants who are unable to attend live, and recordings will be stored in a shared Google folder. Participants must select and pre-register for Zoom sessions, each lasting two hours. Participants attending virtually are expected to actively engage in discussions and submit session reflections by the stated deadlines. Participants are expected to remain engaged for the full two-hour virtual session, and attendance will be documented.
Cohort members are encouraged, but not required to attend, the RichmondYDN Professional Skill-Building Day held annually in March in the Richmond region.
During the Summer 2026 retreat hybrid cohort members learn from VCU da Vinci Center staff to create a practice-based, community-centered applied learning experience using the Shelfie Program as the structure for their capstone presentation. The VCU Mary and Frances Youth Center is excited to partner with the da Vinci Center to recreate and adapt the Shelfie Program as a replicable model for youth program development and planning. This partnership will leverage Shelfie’s experimental framework to support the creation of responsive, youth-centered programming that values creativity, adaptability, and collaborative learning.
The Shelfie Program, housed within the VCU da Vinci Center’s Shift Retail Lab, functions as a creative testing ground for early-stage ideas, prototypes, and emerging programs. Designed intentionally as a learning-by-doing environment, Shelfie prioritizes exploration over perfection, encouraging experimentation, iteration, and the incorporation of meaningful feedback rather than the pursuit of fully polished outcomes. This approach allows participants to test concepts in real time, learn from both successes and failures, and refine ideas through hands-on engagement.
Using the Shelfie language and model, cohort members will design, prototype, and pitch youth program concepts that directly respond to the lived experiences, assets, and needs of youth and communities in which they serve. A final capstone presentation will be delivered by cohort members to their own site administrators, staff and home community.
By embedding design thinking, innovation, and rapid prototyping into youth development program creation, the VCU daVinci Center Shelfie curriculum strengthens the capstone experience and offers graduates an additional VCU credential to be earned alongside the VCU Advanced Certificate in Youth Development Management certificate award.
Shelfie Workshop include: (Descriptions of workshops may be found here)
Introduction to Design Thinking
Introduction to Business Model Canvas
Introduction to Pitching and Storytelling
Introduction to Prototyping
Hybrid cohort members will use the Shelfie process as well as the Virginia Partnership In Out of School Time (VPOST) Quality Standards to design or reimagine a youth program, initiative, or curriculum while applying design thinking tools to better understand the needs of youth and their communities. Through this process, participants will prototype solutions that address challenges such as engagement, access, leadership development, and connectivity, test assumptions through feedback and iteration, and translate innovation into practical youth development strategies. By doing so, cohort members will address real-world challenges through creative approaches that are rooted in and shaped by the community itself.
Before the completion of the certificate program each hybrid cohort member is asked to design and deliver a thirty minute professional presentation at their youth program site, focused on one or more topics explored during the certificate program and informed by their Shelfie experience. Presentations must:
- Reflect themes commonly discussed during certificate facilitations.
- Ground the narrative in local context (assets, challenges, and opportunities for youth, families, and partners).
- Highlight relevant program statistics and experiences from your community/setting in a natural, credible way.
- Respond with a restorative lens.
Completed presentations include an outline or slide deck, a brief written reflection that describes the topic, intended audience, and community context, and documentation verifying that the presentation was delivered. Capstone projects must be completed prior to graduation and are required for certificate completion.
The VCU Advanced Certificate in Youth Development Management graduation ceremony will be held in August in Richmond, Virginia. Members of the Richmond cohort and the hybrid cohort are invited and encouraged to attend.
Additional opportunities are being developed for graduates of the certificate program to build clear pathways back into higher education. Through the newly formed Credit for Prior Learning program, non-traditional students may translate relevant professional experience into university credits. This approach allows learners to bypass parts of the traditional course sequence, accelerating their progress toward a degree while recognizing the value of what they already know and have accomplished outside the classroom.
The Mary and Frances Youth Center is excited to partner with VCU University College, the Interdisciplinary Studies program, and Continuing and Professional Education to create flexible, supportive options for cohort members and program alumni. Together, these collaborations will help participants identify and pursue individualized academic pathways—ranging from stackable credentials to full degree programs—making it easier for graduates to return to the university, stay on track, and reach their long-term educational and career goals.
Statewide Hybrid Cohort Registration Fee
$3,149 per cohort member
Costs supports certificate registration, summer retreat room and board, summer retreat daily activities (yoga, river adventures, group outings, etc.) instructional materials, and core learning resources that ensure high-quality training and professional credentialing.
Participation in the VCU Advanced Certificate in Youth Development Management partnership also requires additional costs not covered by the registration fee. These costs may include:
- Technology and software access: Reliable internet service and a device with full Zoom capability, along with any required software for coursework and virtual instruction.
- Travel to program activities: Mileage, public transit, or other transportation costs for attending in-person sessions and graduation
- Time support for unpaid program hours: Coverage or compensation support for unpaid hours spent in required training.
Submit Interest Form
To learn more about the VCU Statewide Hybrid certificate please submit an interest form using this link. Registration will open April 27th, 2026.
MFYC takes a big step!
The VCU Advanced Certificate in Youth Development Management was created to meet the needs of youth program and health service staff across the Richmond region. In just two years, the program has demonstrated both its impact and the deep demand for quality workforce development in this field.
The response from the community has been overwhelming. In the program's first year alone, more than 80 professionals from across the Richmond region inquired about enrollment. Requests have since come in from partners and practitioners statewide, calling for the certificate program to expand its reach beyond Richmond.
The message is clear! There is an urgent and growing need for skilled youth development professionals, and the community trusts VCU and the Mary and Frances Youth Center to deliver the training that makes an impact in communities across the commonwealth.
We invite partners, organizations, and communities to join us in this work.
Please contact garlandvw@vcu.edu to learn more
