Youth Power Fund
This fund provide opportunities for foundations and individual donors to collectively cultivate a powerful youth organizing ecosystem.
News
- How Youth Participatory Grantmaking is Transforming Philanthropy – To truly strengthen our democracy for the long-term, funders need to hear directly from young people and youth organizing staff and follow their lead to deeply invest in the ecosystem that builds political home and collective agency for us. View Article.
- Announcing Youth Power Fund’s Third Phase $1.12 Million in Grants to Youth Organizing Groups – The Youth Power Fund is excited to announce $1,120,000 in grants to 32 youth organizing groups in Northern California to collectively cultivate a powerful youth organizing ecosystem with shared strategies that engage more young people, expand power, and support transformative youth organizing practices in the field. View Article.
About
Launched in 2019, the Youth Power Fund (YPF) is a network of foundations and individual donors committed to creating more equitable, just, and effective social, economic, and political systems in Northern California.
Young people are creating the world we deserve by reimagining and transforming communities and systems. Through their organizing, youth organizers are at the heart of intergenerational justice movements as leaders on the front lines and agenda setters for lasting change. Deep and sustained investment is required to bring about the fundamental improvements young people envision in their lives and in their communities.
Our fund is anchored by leaders in the field of philanthropy and youth organizing.
- Youth Organize! California serves as a convener, capacity builder, and strategist for engaging leaders in youth organizing.
- Northern California Grantmakers serves as the pooled fund manager and funder convener, drawing on its funder collaborative experience and expertise as the philanthropic membership association for Northern California.
- Amalgamated Foundation administers the Youth Power Fund and provides fund management, compliance, and grants administration capacity.
What We're Doing
Purpose
The Youth Power Fund collectively funds and cultivates a robust youth organizing ecosystem to engage more young people in transformative youth organizing, expand their power, and sustain their long-term movement infrastructure. Working closely with aligned funders, researchers, and groups on the ground, and with the facilitation of Youth Organize! California, YPF is committed to utilizing collective expertise to support emergent and established youth organizing and leadership development strategies in Northern California.
Long-Term Outcomes: YPF supports the increased capacity and effectiveness of youth organizing groups; strengthens a regional ecosystem of youth organizers, program leaders, funders, and key partners; centers youth as active participants in grantmaking, with engagement in design and decision-making; coordinates with other collaborative efforts to amplify impact at the regional and state levels; and inspires funders to prioritize youth organizing and direct a larger share of resources to support the growth of this ecosystem.
Collaboration
- Supportive Relationships: We engage in regular funder-to-funder and funder-to-organizer activities to build knowledge, understanding and trust.
- Collective Action: Together, we build and disburse a pooled fund in a manner that adds value for all our funding partners. Outcomes include creating a table where long-standing youth organizing funders can attract additional funding for their grantees; national funders can find local partners to attain regional impact, and funders who do not have a youth organizing strategy can harness youth power who are working on their issues.
- Participatory Grantmaking: We bring youth leaders to the decision-making table to provide oversight, direction, and accountability, guide YPF’s field and capacity building components, and participate in grantmaking.
- Shared Learning: We co-create a learning agenda to enhance our working knowledge by drawing on the expertise of participating funder and organizing partners, research from field and academic leaders, and insights from national colleagues like those in the Funders Collaborative on Youth Organizing (FCYO).
Steering Committee
YO! Cali, Northern California Grantmakers, East Bay Community Foundation, San Francisco Foundation, S.H. Cowell Foundation, Sarlo Family Foundation, Sobrato Family Foundation, The California Endowment, Zellerbach Family Foundation
Contributing Funders
Blue Shield of California, Corporate Citizenship | The California Endowment | Chan Zuckerberg Initiative | Crankstart | David & Lucile Packard Foundation | East Bay Community Foundation | Grantmakers for Girls of Color | Heising-Simons Foundation | John & Marcia Goldman Foundation | San Francisco Foundation | S.H. Cowell Foundation | Sobrato Family Foundation | Stupski Foundation | Sarlo Family Foundation | Walter & Elise Haas Fund | Zellerbach Foundation
Contact
Sarah Frankfurth, Director of Regional Programs and Partnerships
For more information about this fund contact: