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Youth Empowered Philanthropy

Youth Empowered Philanthropy (YEP), empowers youth to make real decisions, with real money that create real impact in Allen County. YEP strives to make our community a more vibrant place to live, work and play while inspiring philanthropy as a habit for future generations.

Applications for the 2020-2021 school year are closed.

The Community Foundation of Greater Fort Wayne is proud to launch Youth Empowered Philanthropy, a youth pod for Allen County. Participants will give back to their community through collaborating on service projects and implementing a grant application system for local nonprofits to give away real money!

The YEP Class of 2020-2021 started meeting in October of 2020. The YEP class is made up of  10 high school students.

Participants: Maeren Jellison, Edward Sun, Annalyse  King, Josselyn Ortiz, Vonnia Anwar, Olivia Hamilton, Afia Zeeshan, Megan True, Zoraiya Limzerwala, and Ryan Lucas Valcarcel

Joining YEP

Why Should You Join?

  • To develop soft skills such as leadership, public speaking, critical thinking and decision making.
  • To build relationships with peers and the nonprofit community.
  • To become more aware of community needs and challenges and learn how to address community needs by serving and giving back to your community.
  • To learn about philanthropy and what it means to be a philanthropist.
  • To serve as community resources and leaders through real decisions, real money, and real impact.

Criteria:

  • For the 2020-2021 school year, you must be a Sophomore or Junior.
  • Be in good academic and behavioral standing.
  • Able to attend a 2-hour virtual meeting once a month (schedule to follow).
  • Available to volunteer for occasional service projects determined by YEP members.

YEP Grantmaking

Youth Empowered Philanthropy (YEP) will be opening its first round of grant applications January 4, 2021. Nonprofits have the opportunity to submit a short application for volunteer time from YEP students and/or operational funding. The Community Foundation of Greater Fort Wayne launched Youth Empowered Philanthropy, a youth pod for Allen County in 2020.

YEP empowers youth to make real decisions, with real money that create real impact in Allen County. YEP strives to make our community a more vibrant place to live, work and play while inspiring philanthropy as a habit for future generations.

  • Applications open January 4th and close on January 18th.
  • Applications are short and only take 5-10 minutes to apply.
  • Nonprofits can apply for volunteer time from YEP students, funding or BOTH!
  • Nonprofits must be located in Allen County and serving Allen County to apply.
  • Grants range between $1,000 – $5,000.
  • All grant applications will be reviewed and decided on by the 11 YEP members.

The application to apply can be found here or on the Community Foundation of Greater Fort Wayne’s Grantseekers’ page on January 4, 2021.

Apply Now!

When you click apply now you will be directed to CFGFW’s online grant portal. In order to apply for a YEP grant, you will need to make an account on CFGFW’s online grant portal. 

If you have any questions regarding YEP, please email Kiley Tate-Potts at ktatepotts@cfgfw.org. 

YEP teaches students about philanthropy and the impact they can have on their community while exposing them to the nonprofit world. Gifts made to YEP will supplement the students grantmaking which allows students the opportunity to make real decisions with real dollars that create real impact in our community.

Give to YEP!

Leadership Initiatives

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