“The young do not know enough to be prudent, and therefore they attempt the impossible - and achieve it, generation after generation.” – Pearl S. Buck

“I’ve grieved a lot of things during this pandemic. The sad thing is I don’t even have time to process all of it because I have to finish this essay, or I have to show up to this one important Zoom, or I have this test that I have to study for,” ninth-grader Sierra Leone Anderson of Los Angeles told EdSource. Over the summer, she joined a coalition of teachers, students and parents across L.A. Unified School District and became civically active. This new outlet sparked her interest in her studies anew. “I’ve realized that that’s what the pandemic has taught me — that you need to focus on your mental health and prioritize that over other things sometimes,” Sierra said.

Youth organizing, as defined by the Funders Collaborative for Youth Organizing, is "grounded in racial, gender and economic justice, the process of engaging young people in building power for systemic change while supporting their individual and collective development.” It places youth in authentic leadership roles to work on issues that are relevant to their lives, their struggles and their dreams, and it is an important conduit of well-being for young people.

For philanthropy, youth organizing is a powerful investment opportunity with three-fold returns: individual youth development and well-being; increased leadership skills and civic engagement; and youth-driven social change.

Youth Development and Well-being.  At the recent NYTimes A New Climate conference in San Francisco, one young organizer shared that the thing that has kept her going through the bad news cycle of climate catastrophe and burnout has been the organizing work, being with others, and taking action in community. The act of organizing itself is healing. Research supports this young woman’s personal story: 84% of young people involved in organizing believed their engagement helped them take better care of their emotional well-being. Nearly 70% of youth organizing groups integrate regular healing activities into their organizing work such as talking circles, support groups, mindfulness, and other self-care work.

And the impact is particularly strong for young people of color, low-income youth and others experiencing the impact of inequitable systems. In fact, a growing body of research confirms that engaging these young people in organizing is a best practice in supporting their holistic development.

Leadership and Civic Engagement. Engaging youth in organizing also builds their experience and commitment to community and civic engagement. Political education is a key part of youth organizing. This builds understanding of the root causes of and intersections between social issues and systems that young people face everyday, like structural racism and economic inequality. As the Funders Collaborative for Youth Organizing puts it, youth organizing is “...a training ground for future leaders.”

Social Change. Youth organize around a large variety of social justice and equity issues including voting, health, gender and LGBTQ issues, and immigration. They also take an intersectional approach, recognizing these issues are interwoven. Education consistently comes forward as one of the top priorities for youth organizing, with more than 60%  dentifying it as a top priority. Battery Powered has long recognized the effectiveness of youth organizing for social change, having invested in youth organizing in past themes including the Alliance for Youth Organizing in our Healthy Democracy theme, the Young Women’s Freedom Center in our Opportunity Youth theme, and Future Coalition in our Climate Action theme. 

Youth organizing is incredibly powerful in helping young people find pride, purpose and joy in their lives, while simultaneously advancing social policy.  As such, we are interested in providing general support for youth-led movements and organizing. While we value the work of adults advocating on behalf of youth for important policies, we are specifically interested in work where youth are in authentic leadership roles. We are also interested in collaboratives that support youth-led organizing directly alongside field building, capacity development, and collaboration across movements.