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

Elevating Youth Voices Video Series

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We know that our youth have so much to contribute to our communities, but far too often, youth voices are not considered or valued.

This is especially true for young people growing up in low-income neighborhoods and for young people of color. Bright Promises 150th Anniversary Elevating Youth Voices initiative seeks to change this by facilitating youth-led community improvement through a full year of special events and programming, including the Elevating Youth Voices Video Series.

Premiering this summer, the Elevating Youth Voices Video Series is an ongoing series of youth-created videos that 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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Free Write Arts & Literacy engages incarcerated and court-involved youth and young adults in the performing, visual, and literary arts so that they become the narrators of their own stories and the authors of their futures. By co-designing creative space with our students, Free Write supports them as they develop educational and career opportunities that reduce recidivism while also contributing to the public discourse around issues of youth incarceration.

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The ARK of St. Sabina is a community center dedicated to enhancing the talents, lives, and spirits of community youth through education, mentoring, and linkages to resources.

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After School Matters is a youth development organization with a mission to provide Chicago public high school teens with opportunities to explore and develop their talents while gaining critical skills for college, careers, and beyond.

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The 33rd Ward Youth Council gives young people a voice on the issues that directly impact us. We aim to inform, unite, and mobilize our community to cultivate healthy, safe, and sustainable neighborhoods.