The Youth Grantmakers initiative, launched by grantee Baltimore’s Promise, aims to establish a group of youth to help distribute public and private resources to better serve young people, enabling them to take the lead in addressing issues that directly affect them. Youth ages 16–24 from Baltimore City designed this effort, which equips young people with skills to inform their grantee selections, including conducting due diligence.
The first round of grants, totaling $525,000, from the Youth Grantmakers initiative will be awarded to 10 organizations across the city and will provide organizations with the opportunity to serve more than 400 additional youth.
The grants will support increased access to mental health resources; mentoring and building positive intergenerational relationships; individualized academic support; and career opportunities—all priorities that the youth grantmakers identified. Nine of the 10 organizations selected are led by people of color, with a majority led by Black women.
Participating in this initiative will allow the Weinberg Foundation to learn from a grantmaking approach that promotes racial equity, community input, and youth learning and leadership. The Foundation provided a $100,000 grant to support this initiative.
