Youth Fund

Youthprise is a nonprofit intermediary founded in 2010 to increase the quality, accessibility, sustainability and innovation of opportunities for learning beyond the classroom. Youthprise aims for Minnesota to lead the nation in accelerating leadership and innovation for learning beyond the classroom. We develop regional and statewide systems and policies that promote engagement and personal success for all Minnesota .

At Youthprise, we believe that our state’s greatest untapped resource is the energy and ingenuity of our youth. A central strategy for Youthprise is to build the capacity of youth-serving organizations to provide high quality learning opportunities beyond the classroom for youth in their middle and high school years. For Youthprise, this means encouraging multiple, diverse opportunities for and leadership in learning settings beyond the classroom and, more broadly, working to improve Minnesota “Youth Philanthropy is one communities through policy change, civic engagement and direct of the most genuine expressions of . development a community can engage in; it provides Youthprise employs a youth-adult partnership model that engages supports, skills, a connection to the youth at all of levels of the organization, including serving as board community, and members, sustaining involvement on special projects, and providing opportunities for young input on programmatic and grantmaking decisions. people to build relationships with peers and adults.” About the Youth Philanthropy Fund --Maureen Sdonaen, former To pursue this mission, Youthprise established a youth philanthropy executive director of the Youth fund where young people are the key decision-makers. Youth identify Leadership Institute in San Francisco. innovative strategies and make strategic investments that address issues and concerns relevant to them and their communities.

The Youth Philanthropy Fund is not just about giving grants, it fosters authentic that provides youth with an opportunity to learn new skills in leadership, teamwork, decision-making, problem solving, communication, and financial stewardship.

Youth redefined philanthropy as (1) A collaborative process in which youth, driven by their love for others, lead the allocation and redistribution of resources – time, talent, treasure, funding, skills, stories, and ideas- toward the just and authentic enrichment of young people. (2) Young people’s deep identification with their communities and their to co-create a new reality.

Antonyms: Just giving money, a replication of fund gatekeeping.

Through the fund, Youthprise seeks to fundamentally change society’s perceptions of young people, repositioning them as vital community assets worthy of investment and capable of pioneering systems change. Young people are vital resources and contributors – essential to solving the world’s biggest problems.

For more information, contact Libby Rau, Youthprise Director of Youth Engagement, [email protected] or visit www.youthprise.org.