Description
The mission of Youthprise is to champion learning beyond the classroom so that all Minnesota youth thrive. Youthprise is a statewide intermediary that stratically combines funding, capacity building, policy advocacy, research and youth engagement unde...
Program areas at Youthprise
Health and Safety: Youthprise supports programs and initiatives that promote the health and safety of young people. In addition to meeting basic food needs through our Nutrition Hub, we work with community-based organizations and support them in accessing the federal and state food resources so that families in need can access free food in community settings they frequent. Youthprise takes a culturally informed wrap-around approach to advance intervention strategies that prevent the criminalization of youth, which can pose a threat to public safety. In 2019 Youthprise expanded our Nutrition Hub which served 65 sites, serving over 280K meals, and 5,500 youth in five counties. Additionally, we support a number of initiatives that seek to reduce youth homelessness, teen pregnancies, disparities in the juvenile justice system, and contact between non-violent youth and law enforcement.
Economic Opportunity: Youthprise creates opportunities for economic prosperity by supporting programs and initiatives that build workforce skills, promote youth entrepreneurship, and expose youth to career pathways. We work with a range of stakeholders across sectors to equip young people with the economic tools to thrive. In 2019, Youthprise awarded grants to connect young people with career pathways in high demand industries such as healthcare, information technology, automotive, and customer service in the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota communities. Opportunity Reboot program served 1,449 youth, placed 634 youth in jobs, and provided support for 337 youth to retain employment.
Learning and Leadership: Youthprise promotes the learning, leadership, and social-emotional development of youth. Programs and initiatives supported in this area expose youth to arts and culture, enrichment activities, technical assistance, and leadership opportunities including 55 convenings, five publications, and engaging 2,056 plus people. We seek to shift how programs interact with youth and support programs that engage youth in leadership and governance, a practice that we model at Youthprise. We embed young people across all areas of our organization, and we have 50% representation of youth on our Board of Directors, committees, and most are co-chaired by a young person.