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Funding for Youth Development
Positive Experiences + Positive Relationships + Positive Environments = Positive Youth Development
PYD is an intentional, prosocial approach that engages youth within their communities, schools, organizations, peer groups, and families in a manner that is productive and constructive; recognizes, utilizes, and enhances young people's strengths; and promotes positive outcomes for young people by providing opportunities, fostering positive relationships, and furnishing the support needed to build on their leadership strengths.
The Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs developed a research agenda focused on positive youth development. Through a collaborative consensus-building process, representatives from federal agencies identified three research domains (conceptual issues, data sources and indicators, and program implementation and effectiveness) and key research questions that could benefit from future research.
PYD has its origins in the field of prevention. In the past, prevention efforts typically focused on single problems before they surfaced in youth, such as teen pregnancy, substance abuse, and juvenile delinquency.
Over time, practitioners, policymakers, funders, and researchers determined that promoting positive asset building and considering young people as resources were critical strategies. As a result, the youth development field began examining the role of resiliency - the protective factors in a young person's environment - and how these factors could influence one's ability to overcome adversity. Those factors included, but were not limited to, family support and monitoring; caring adults; positive peer groups; strong sense of self, self-esteem, and future aspirations; and engagement in school and community activities.
Researchers and practitioners began to report that young people who possess a diverse set of protective factors can, in fact, experience more positive outcomes. These findings encouraged the development of interventions and programs that reduce risks and strengthen protective factors. The programs and interventions are strengthened when they involve and engage youth as equal partners, ultimately providing benefits for both for the program and the involved youth.
Source: youth.gov
Foundation and philanthropic support for youth development from around the Web.
The Super Bowl is coming to Las Vegas in February, but the week leading up to it has been a rough one for one local charity. First, the city's chamber of commerce announced it would be closing...more
When you think of the fastest-growing segments of the US economy, cybersecurity or data science come to mind. But "to my astonishment, nonprofits are the fastest growing sector," writes David...more
The Northwest Association for Blind Athletes, Women and Children's Alliance, First Tee Idaho, and Boise State University Foundation have each received a $50,000 grant from KeyBank to continue their...more
A $2 million state grant to Children's Hospital Los Angeles will help more than 8,500 young adults get the health care they need, the Los Angeles Times reports. The money will go to the...more
"We're not going to say that if you're a big sister you don't get to participate in the same athletic activities," Dina Bishara tells the Daily Iowan. But that's exactly what's happening in...more
"Through our financial support and volunteer service, we are proud to help lift up the communities that we serve." That's the statement from Lori Gazzillo Kiely, director of the Berkshire Bank...more
The US Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture has awarded Oregon State University's Extension Service a $10 million, five-year grant to promote positive youth...more
Camp Sloper is "one of Southington's gems," according to a Connecticut state lawmaker, and that's why he's glad the town just got $500,000 to keep it that way. That's what state...more
A 22-year-old Nigerian man was recently selected to attend the Global Engagement Summit (GES) in Chicago, a student-run social innovation conference that gathers young change-makers from around the...more
An Indiana community foundation has awarded more than $138,000 in grants as part of its fourth-quarter grants cycle. The Community Foundation of Bartholomew County recently awarded $138,442 in...more
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Building a Million Dollar Company Where Everyone Counts
Ganesh Natarajan is the Founder and Chairman of 5FWorld, a new platform for funding and developing start-ups, social enterprises and the skills eco-system in India. In the past two decades, he has built two of India’s high-growth software services companies – Aptech and Zensar – almost from scratch to global success.
