Since the 1990s, our Youth Advisory Committee (YAC) has provided a space for young adults to be leaders in philanthropy and grantmaking. Our group is made up of students from Fremont, Grant, Hesperia, Newaygo, and White Cloud high schools and homeschool. They oversee the Community Foundation’s Youth Endowment Fund and review and award grants from it each year.
Our YAC meets one morning a month during the school year. Here’s a snapshot of a typical meeting and what our YACers are doing this month.
The week before:
Our team of four officers meets with their staff advisors to plan an agenda. Officers are elected each year by their peers. They decide on topics and activities, how to present them, and who will facilitate each agenda item. The advisors are there for support, but YAC meetings are almost entirely youth-led.
8:45 a.m. on meeting day:
We start with snacks and an icebreaker activity (this month, we’re sharing what we did over summer break). We review minutes from our last meeting and go over the meeting agenda. Every third month, Community Foundation trustees will visit and share a report from the board.
9:15-9:45 a.m.
Most of the meeting is broken up into four half-hour sections: continuing education, grantmaking, leadership development, and a topic that varies each month. Our continuing education block might feature a presentation from a staff member or local organization, studying a particular trend or issue, or learning about another topic. This month, we’re creating group norms for the year and setting expectations for how we want to treat each other and create a space where everyone feels safe to participate.
9:45-10:15 a.m.
Next up is usually grantmaking. In January and February, we’ll work on a grant review simulation to prepare for our real grant review in March and April. In the meantime, there’s a lot to learn, and YACers take their responsibility very seriously! They learn how to read a proposal and budget, share feedback, reach consensus, make motions, and take minutes.
10:30-11:00 a.m.
After a break and energizer game, we explore a topic or activity the YAC officers have picked out. This month we’re talking about recruiting new members. Each school group will meet to develop a plan for getting the word out at their school.
11:00-11:30 a.m.
We typically end with leadership development. We’ve talked about different leadership styles and how to work together effectively, motivational values, and more. This month, we’re talking about planning a needs assessment to determine the most pressing needs and concerns of local youth. We’ll spend some time working in subcommittees and as a whole group. A needs assessment is a big project we’ll work on throughout the year.
Wrap-ups
We often wrap up with a discussion question or challenge to complete before the next meeting. We share reminders or announcements, then finish up with lunch (pizza and breadsticks are a favorite).
