Amy Syvertsen

Amy Syvertsen is a principal researcher in AIR’s Youth, Family, and Community Development area. Dr. Syvertsen is an applied developmental scientist, and a content expert in positive youth development in childhood and adolescence with an emphasis on the developmental processes and contextual supports that undergird strong youth-adult relationships and civic development. Her applied program of research seeks to mobilize young people, schools, out-of-school time organizations, and communities in pursuit of a world where all young people can be and become the best versions of themselves and be active contributors to their communities. This work takes the form of longitudinal developmental research, mixed methods evaluations, community-based youth-engaged research, and collaborative meaning-making and action-planning with data.

Before joining AIR, Dr. Syvertsen served as the senior director of research at Search Institute, leading a portfolio of applied research focused on understanding how, through an equity lens, to create asset- and relationship-rich learning environments that support youth thriving. This includes co-leading the design and development of the Developmental Relationships Framework and the associated measurement strategy and partnering with education and youth development organizations to develop and execute evaluation designs that test impact while maximizing the data-dialogue-action cycle of improvement. Dr. Syvertsen is also the co-PI of the Roots of Engaged Citizenship Project, one of the largest mixed methods longitudinal studies of youth civic development conducted in schools.

Dr. Syvertsen has served on numerous committees and boards including the National Mentoring Resource Center Research Board and the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine PYD Research and Practice team. Her work has been widely published via peer-refereed journals like Applied Development Science and Child Development as well as more practitioner-focused blogs, webinars, and briefs.