Today, we are announcing funding for 55 local nonprofits as part of our Invest in Youth initiative, bringing our overall support for youth-focused programs to $2.6 million in 2019! Each organization will receive a minimum grant of $45,000—an increase from a minimum grant amount of $20,000 in previous years.

See the full 2019-2020 Invest in Youth Grant Program cohort

We launched Invest in Youth in 2015 to improve social and economic opportunities and outcomes for 16- to 24-year-olds in Brooklyn, particularly young people of color, through grantmaking, strategic leadership initiatives, and direct engagement with youth. To date, we have awarded $12 million through the initiative.

“We are so proud to announce our support for the fifth cohort of our Invest in Youth Grant Program. With each passing year, we strive to be a stronger partner and funder for transformative youth-serving programs across our borough. This year, in an effort to provide more equitable support to our grantees, we are funding each organization at the same level of $45,000—an amount that signifies a tipping point, enabling grantees to cover employee salaries and benefits. Through these investments we look forward to deepening our understanding of the challenges confronting Brooklyn’s next generation of leaders and advancing the solutions they are creating for their communities.”

- Brooklyn Community Foundation President and CEO Cecilia Clarke

Each year, our Invest in Youth Grant Program supports community-based nonprofits working in three areas: Youth Leadership, Youth Justice, and Immigrant Youth and Families. With a priority for funding grassroots organizations led by members of the communities they serve, 45% of organizations in the 2019-2020 cohort have operating budgets of $1 million or less, and 65% of their executive directors identify as people of color.

Also new this year is a partnership with the ELMA Music Foundation to support six music-focused youth arts programs committed to social justice through both grant funding and capacity building assistance: ARTs East New York, Building Beats, Flex Dance Program, Made in Brownsville, STEM from Dance, and viBe Theater Experience.

In addition to the annual grant program, the Invest in Youth initiative also includes the Brooklyn Youth Activists youth-led grantmaking program and the Brooklyn Restorative Justice Project, which aims to develop a racially just model for school discipline in partnership with the NYC Department of Education and the Mayor’s Leadership Team on School Climate and Discipline.

Pictured: Invest in Youth grantee Neighbors in Action