Founder of Integrative Youth Development™ and The Full Color Web of Support™
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Derek Peterson is an international child and youth advocate, educator, and storyteller whose life’s work has been dedicated to re-weaving the webs that hold our children, families, and communities together. As the founder of Integrative Youth Development™ (IYD) and creator of The Full Color Web of Support™, Derek has spent over four decades translating the science of resilience, belonging, and thriving into practical, relational frameworks that nurture young people within the full ecology of their lives.
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Derek believes what the Evolved Nest beautifully affirms: that well-being grows from relationship, and that our collective thriving depends on the strength and diversity of our human and ecological connections. Through the Web of Support model, he helps communities around the world—most recently in Alaska, California, Nigeria, with “seeded” projects in Tanzania, Kenya, and Australia—reclaim the wisdom of interdependence. His approach honors the ancient truth that it doesn’t take a whole village to raise a child—it takes a personal village, one rich with caring adults and reciprocal love.
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Described by the Harvard Education Review as “one of America’s champions for children and youth,” Derek’s influence has spanned education, public health, and community development. His work has guided initiatives that won Muncie, Indiana, the 2020 All-American City Award, and helped Purdue University’s Honors College of Engineering achieve breakthrough retention outcomes for underrepresented students through a five-year National Science Foundation grant.
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Rooted in gratitude, Derek credits his own Web of Support—mentors and elders such as Dr. Father Michael Oleska, Dr. Cameron McKinley, Senator Ted Stevens, Dr. Jim Stuckey, Dr. Peter Benson, Dr. Sam Keen, Dr. Dolores Subia Bigfoot, Rita Pitka Blumenstein, and many others—for shaping his life’s path. They modeled what he now teaches: that when we live inside webs of mutual care, we rediscover our natural capacity to love, learn, and serve.
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When he’s not teaching or traveling, Derek delights in the quiet presence of his partner Laura and their joyful Christmas-born dog, Navi—a daily reminder that love, like sunlight, is everywhere. Feliz Navi-Dawg.
To learn more about Derek’s work:
