Elevating Youth Voices: How Would You Use $10,000 to Help Your Community?

Elevating Youth Voices Video Series

Edition 2 of 5

Valuing youth engagement and leadership puts the focus on the positive contribution that youth of all ages make to our communities.

When youth take the lead, it is good for communities. Involving youth builds communities, which are then better able to support the youth and families that live in them. Engaged youth are also making healthy connections with peers and supportive adults. This is linked to less risky behavior and increased participation in activities that build community.

Bright Promises 150th Anniversary Elevating Youth Voices initiative supports youth-led community improvement through a full year of special events and programming, including the Elevating Youth Voices Video Series.

Premiering this summer, this ongoing series of youth-created videos spotlight young people across Chicago who are creating positive community change. In their self-produced videos, youth leaders share how they would use a $10,000 grant from Bright Promises Foundation to address issues like youth homelessness, access to safe transportation,violence reduction and prevention, justice reform, workforce development and access to job opportunities, and more.

Five organizations will be selected to receive a $10,000 Elevating Youth Voices grant, which will be presented at the 150th Anniversary Awards celebration on Tuesday, October 15.

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The Gary Comer Youth Center's (GCYC) mission is to ensure its students graduate from high school, prepared for college and careers. GCYC provides a safe and supportive environment for ages 8-24 after school, on weekends and during school hours.  Programming occurs in three primary categories: Academic Enhancement, Youth Enrichment, and College and Career Preparation offerings.

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The mission of North Lawndale College Preparatory Charter High School (NLCP) is to prepare young people from under-resourced communities for graduation from high school with the academic skills and personal resilience necessary for successful completion of college.

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True Star Foundation’s purpose is to inspire dreams so that young people can find their voice, choose their path, and prepare for life.  The Foundation’s mission is to demonstrate healthy transitions for youth coming into early adulthood by exposing them to real-world experiences in the workforce through the development of their own media and being an intricate part of the strategic direction and overall business operations of the True Star organization.

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Voices of Youth in Chicago Education is a youth-led alliance of low-income youth of color organizing to end the school-to-prison pipeline and create safe schools. We do this through youth-led community organizing, participatory action research, ongoing leadership development, and the creation of safe spaces for young people.

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