Strengthening Youth Resilience: A Strategic Partnership Between Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston (BGCB) and PEAR
- pearinstitute
- Jul 28
- 4 min read
About Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston
Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston is the leading and most impactful youth organization in Greater Boston, catalyzing far-reaching opportunities for more equitable futures for youth ages 6–18 across 22 communities, eight Club locations, and YouthConnect in Boston and Chelsea. Since 189
3, BGCB has focused on making the region thrive and has played an essential role for young people eager to explore their passions, find their purpose, and prepare for a life of success and impact.
In partnership with the public sector, private enterprise, related non-profits, donors and volunteers, BGCB is aligned behind investing in the region’s urban talent pipeline and making a generational impact that expands beyond the walls of its buildings and deep into the communities it serves. Helping urban youth to navigate a fast-paced global climate steeped in change, the organization is recognized for fueling the future of the city and the Commonwealth through its innovative “readiness” programs centered on three outcome areas: Academic Success, Health and Wellness, and Workforce Readiness. It is an affiliate of the Atlanta-based Boys & Girls Clubs of America, with over 5,000 Clubs nationwide serving over 3.6 million young people.
Partnering with PEAR to Advance Youth Development
To guide this next evolution in youth development, BGCB partnered with PEAR (Partnerships in Education and Resilience), a nationally recognized leader in resilience-building, youth mental health, and strength-based development frameworks. Founded out of Harvard University and McLean Hospital, PEAR brings decades of research and practical expertise to helping youth-serving organizations build resilience, foster social-emotional skills, and create inclusive, strength-based environments.
Central to PEAR’s approach is the Clover Model of Youth Development, a research-based framework designed to nurture four essential domains for thriving: Active Engagement, Assertiveness, Belonging, and Reflection. Through this collaboration, BGCB sought to em
bed PEAR’s proven models and strategies across all Clubs — ensuring a unified, holistic, and sustainable approach to youth development citywide.
Strategic Planning and the Adoption of the Clover Model
In 2022, BGCB leadership began crafting a new strategic plan focused on helping youth build essential skills to become successful leaders, engaged citizens, and individuals of strong character. Leadership identified the need for a unified, organization-wide youth development framework and additional staff training to achieve these goals.
After evaluating several models, BGCB selected PEAR’s Clover Model of Youth Development for its holistic, strength-based focus and successful prior partnerships at the Club level. The Clover Model provides a shared language, resources, and actionable strategies to support youth social-emotional growth and resilience across all programs and operations.
BGCB outlined ambitious measurable outcomes, including:
Impacting youth essential skills for academic and life success through SEL and resilience-building.
Embedding a strengths-based, asset-focused model across all departments.
Investing in professional development to attract, retain, and empower staff.
Revising program structures, standards, and deliverables.
Utilizing data-driven metrics to guide organizational investments and priorities.
Building the Foundation: Year One Rollout
PEAR and BGCB developed a comprehensive two-year integration plan. Year One focused on assessing current practices and building staff expertise with the Clover Model:
Citywide Professional Development: In September 2023, PEAR launched the initiative with an in-person training for all BGCB staff, introducing the Clover Model’s core concepts. Additional sessions engaged main office and YouthConnect teams to extend the model’s influence beyond Clubs.
Club Learning Days: Each Club participated in a full-day Clover workshop, exploring how to integrate social-emotional skill-building into daily activities, youth support systems, and crisis response strategies.
Leadership Development: A cohort of "Clover Champions" — Directors and Social Workers from each Club — was created to sustain and expand the work internally. PEAR provided intensive training to equip them to lead ongoing Clover integration and onboard new staff.
Strengthening Support Systems: The Role of Data
To complement their strength-based programming, BGCB needed a robust tool to assess and track youth development outcomes across their Clubs. PEAR’s Holistic Student Assessment (HSA) provided the ideal solution.
The HSA is a youth self-report tool that creates a comprehensive portrait of each young person's unique strengths and challenges. Grounded in the Clover Model, the HSA measures the essential building blocks of resilience, including emotional regulation, perseverance, optimism, and confidence. It also captures the quality of youths’ relationships with peers and adults, as well as their engagement with learning through critical thinking, motivation, and a sense of connection to their community.
Together, these insights help youth development professionals design more responsive supports, foster positive environments, and strengthen youth success within the Clubs and beyond. Clubs piloted the HSA in Spring 2024, with PEAR facilitating Data Interpretation Sessions to help staff translate insights into action, including the creation of consistent youth support meetings across Clubs.
Deepening Impact: Year Two Rollout
With a strong foundation in place, Year Two emphasized deeper ownership and sustainability:
Clover Champions Leading the Work: Champions took the lead in onboarding and training staff in Clover-based practices at their respective Clubs.
Expanded Use of HSA: Clubs administered the HSA to 1,148 youth across the city, incorporating data-driven insights into youth support planning and member development meetings.
Introducing Clover Groups: PEAR supported Clubs in implementing the Clover Groups: strength-based, small-group curricula designed to foster competence and resilience before challenges escalate. Clubs used HSA data to select two curricula per site, including:
Photo Justice: Empowering youth to address injustices in their communities.
Our Stories: Facilitating personal storytelling and reflection.
Strong Links: Strengthening social connections and belonging.
Ready, Set, Action: Promoting stress reduction through physical activity and teamwork.
PEAR provided facilitation training and ongoing coaching for Club leaders and social workers to ensure successful implementation.
Outcomes and Looking Ahead
Through the strategic partnership with PEAR, BGCB has:
Embedded a shared framework and language for youth development across all Clubs
Strengthened staff capacity for SEL and mental health supports.
Developed data-informed systems to monitor and advance youth outcomes.
Created sustainable structures for continued growth, with internal champions leading future onboarding and professional development.
HSA data will be collected again in Fall 2025 to assess impact and guide the next phase of innovation and improvement. The BGCB-PEAR partnership exemplifies how holistic, research-based models can drive meaningful, sustainable change — helping youth not only succeed today but thrive well into the future.