If You Want to Understand a System, Speak to the People in It

Dr. Shayla Young’s work offers a powerful lens on what it means to build an education system that actually supports students—not just in theory, but across the full span of their lives. Her path into education didn’t begin in a classroom, but in social work and youth development, where the goal was simple: help people. That grounding continues to shape how she understands systems today—not as abstract structures, but as lived experiences that either support or fail the young people moving through them.

Her career has consistently sat at the intersection of K–12 schools, higher education, and community-based organizations. That vantage point makes one thing clear: students don’t experience these systems separately. They experience the gaps between them. When a student struggles to persist in college, it is rarely because of a single failure point. It is often the result of a fragmented system that lacks alignment, where responsibility is passed rather than shared.

This realization is central to Dr. Young’s work. Through her leadership in collective, cross-sector efforts, she pushes against the idea that any one institution “owns” student success. Instead, she frames it as a community responsibility—one that requires schools, higher education, nonprofits, and policymakers to move in coordination. Her approach is not about creating more programs, but about aligning existing efforts so that students experience continuity rather than disconnection.

Equally influential is her research on informal mentoring for students of color. What emerged was not surprising, but it was deeply affirming: relationships matter most. Students consistently pointed to the people who kept them going—a mentor who listened, a community member who stepped in, a conversation that made them feel seen. These supports often exist outside formal structures, yet they play a decisive role in whether students persist.

For Dr. Young, this underscores a critical flaw in how systems define value. Traditional measures—grades, test scores, completion rates—fail to capture the relational work that sustains students. She often describes stories as “data with soul,” emphasizing that lived experiences must be taken seriously if systems are to improve. Elevating student voice, then, is not just about listening—it is about redesigning systems in response to what is heard.

Dr. Shayla Young’s journey reflects a broader truth about education. Systems don’t change simply through new initiatives or policies. They change when people commit to working together, when they center the voices of those most affected, and when they recognize that success is built through relationships as much as structures.