YAC Gatherings for Change

The Youth Advisory Council, a board consisting of youth leaders from various leadership groups, also has a granting cycle called Gatherings for Change.

YAC members aim to assist city departments in grant-making, citywide youth policy, and to increase youth voice in city politics. The council brings together representatives from six different youth groups in meetings that are once a month. Nayad and Peter, the energetic and helpful supervisors of YAC, help make this board complete. From YEFAB, Nieka, Jamie, and I (Nina) are the representatives.

YAC just finished a Gatherings for Change Youth Summit Granting cycle. We looked for Youth Summits that were interesting and would have a large impact on a neighborhood in need or the whole city. We read some really interesting applications. A summit is a conference of youth leaders gathered to discuss a certain issue. Often, these summits include workops and activities, or group discussions. We rated the applications based on impact, idea, activities planned, and timeline. For me, the most important part was the explanation for partnering organizations. For these summits, two or more youth organizations must partner together in order to maximize impact and productivity.
Overall, the process helped me improve my decision making skills and learn more about issues in the city. We funded some exciting youth summits that I'll be sure to blog about later on.
-Nina

To read more about the Youth Advisory Council check out http://yefsf.org/youthadvisorycouncil.html or contact Nayad Abrahamian at nayad@dcyf.org or 415-554-3509.