Youth Innovation Fund: An Agent for Change

Selected one year ago, the National Service-Learning Partnership’s eight W.K. Kellogg Youth Innovation Fund sites — located in Chicago, IL; Cleveland, MS; Hampton, VA; Nashville, TN; Portland, ME; Portland, OR; San Francisco, CA; and Ypsilanti, MI — have developed into catalysts for change in their communities.  The Youth Innovation Fund seeks approaches to civic issues and problems that involve new ways of thinking, new methods of action, and higher levels of youth ownership and sustainability over time. To work towards that goal each site has a Youth Board that funds and supports local youth-led civic action projects to address pressing community issues and spur increased participation by young people in the civic and political life of their cities.  The eight Youth Fund sites also engage in regular communication to share the strategies, victories, and challenges of their work. Through conference calls, email, and national gatherings, both youth and adults from each site!

To learn more about the innovations in youth-directed civic action used by the Youth Innovation Fund, visit: http://www.service-learningpartnership.org/youth_innovation/Innovations.cfm.