Building Intentional Organizational Structures to Support Youth Leadership
Zoë Auerbach. CHIME and Young Leaders Director, Empire State Youth Orchestra. Leader, ESUSA Youth Leadership Institute 2026-27 cohort.
Youth leadership usually shows up as a one-off opportunity rather than something an organization is built to hold. CHIME at ESYO has been building intentional organizational structure to support youth leadership for the last several years. Zoë walks through the structure they built, what they learned putting it in place, and what it asked of the adults. If you lead a program and are weighing whether your organization could carry real pathways for young people, this is the hour to find out what it takes. CHIME at ESYO, Zoë, and two Youth Ambassadors are part of the Youth Leadership Institute inaugural cohort.
Zoë Auerbach is a violinist, teacher, and arts leader grounded in music as a personal and collective practice of connection, craft, clarity, and expression. As the CHIME & Young Leaders Director at Empire State Youth Orchestra (ESYO), she designs and leads programs deeply committed to expanding access, elevating student agency, and building community through music. A native New Yorker raised in a family of musicians, artists, and scientists, Zoë brings an interdisciplinary perspective to her work, shaped by the guiding belief that curiosity, exploration, and art are foundational to learning and the human experience.