Members of the Youth Advisory Committee and Design Team and the Black Girl Freedom Fund Youth Grantmaking Council gather for lunch at G4GC offices during our 2022 Youth Advisory Council retreat. Credit: Lisann Ramos, G4GC
Formed in 2021, our Youth Advisory Councils are composed of girls and gender-expansive youth of color who support us in the direction of each of our funds, helping us decide where to best allocate resources. Here are some recaps of past council activities:
2024 retreat in Albuquerque
In June 2024, our New Songs Rising Fellows gathered in the Pueblo of Isleta to embark on the New Songs Rising Initiative’s first participatory grantmaking process, with a cohort of 10 young people, ages 13-24, from seven different Indigenous communities. The fellows built solidarity, refined their leadership skills, and showed commitment to Native and Globally-Indigenous girls and gender-expansive youth as they engaged in philanthropy.
“The process made me realize how important it is to have people from the communities that need funding choose where the funding goes, and not an outsider assuming where funding needs to go,” said one fellow in an anonymous post-convening survey.
2022 retreat in NYC
In June 2022, we invited and hosted a fabulous gathering of G4GC Youth Advisors from all over the country for a retreat in Brooklyn. This retreat was a culmination, after nearly two years of learning and building together virtually with the Youth Advisory Committee and Design Team, as well as the Black Girl Freedom Fund Youth Grantmaking Council.
There were 13 girls and gender-expansive youth who joined us to further distill their insights around what it means to engage and center young people of color in philanthropy, to deepen their relationships with each other and the G4GC community, and to celebrate their work and leadership.
