Brighter Thailand Foundation programs promote positive youth development in a complementary learning framework. Programs are facilitated in a partnership with local communities, schools, families and BTF fellows, volunteers, and coordinators. Our programs are implemented in the community using three “acts” and the evaluation and research:

Act I: Quick Hit

BTF quick hits are activities that provide people with immediate social benefits within 10-150 days. This helps to build trust and strengthen cooperation among all stakeholders. Our quick hit events are typically celebratory in nature, emphasizing total community participation, sharing local wisdoms, and encouraging family fun through games and other hands-on activities. The Loei Province New Year Activity in 2009 is an example of a BTF quick hit.

Act II: Intermediate

The second level of BTF programming is the camp model. BTF camps promote positive youth leadership development through experiential learning methods. The curriculum promotes core values of honesty, respect, responsibility, citizenship, and perseverance. Our camping model includes youth engagement with community members, schools, and families to promote mutual learning and knowledge construction. Typically BTF camps last from 2 to 7 days, and are facilitated by BTF board members, fellows, and volunteers. Information about our two-day camp in Samut Sakhon will provide an example of a BTF intermediate program.

Act III: Long Term

The goal of Brighter Thailand Foundation is local and self-sustaining programs for youth development. Through the BTF club model, local trained volunteers will guide groups of youth toward leadership development through BTF projects and activities. Volunteers begin by guiding youth through a needs assessment to discover the type of local projects youth are interested in tackling. BTF provides high quality, research-based curriculum to facilitate the enactment of these projects. Our culturally specific core curriculum will include resources on:

-Conflict Resolution
-Youth Adult Partnerships
-Intercultural Development
-Educational Technology
-Experiential Learning
-Complementary Learning
-Leadership Development
-Entrepreneurship

Volunteers and fellows will be trained in youth leadership and intercultural development models and principles through the BTF online courses. The Chun Nong Om organization in Loei Province provides an example of the structure for BTF clubs.

Evaluation and Research:

The Brighter Thailand Foundation values a growth and improvement model of youth development programming. As a result, a main goal at each "act" is program evaluation to assess the impact of the program on youth and their community. Evaluation allows BTF to determine the extent to which our programs influence youth to become leaders.

Research is also an important element in the cycle of BTF program development. Our purpose for engaging in research is for program improvement and to assess emerging trends and patterns about our audience as a result of our interventions. Using authentic curriculum and teaching methods uniquely situates BTF to add positively to the existing body of research on youth leadership and intercultural development.