Social Justice Funders Opportunity Brief

Social Justice Funder Opportunity Briefs explore complex social justice challenges and investigate specific funding opportunities that address those challenges. They focus on funding areas that are particularly well suited for philanthropy, backed up by research and sustainable practices. This is the second brief in this series, and it focuses on democratic and inclusive youth-led grantmaking in the United States.

More foundations, philanthropy-serving organizations, schools, and neighborhood institutions have come to see that young people themselves are well positioned to make informed decisions about community needs both now and in the future that belongs to them. As a result, the practice of youth philanthropy has emerged in hundreds of communities and organizations across the United States. Broadly defined, youth philanthropy provides young people money and mentorship to directly fund nonprofit organizations.