By Carmen Balentine
Program Officer, Edward W. Hazen Foundation
The fiscal 2010 budget includes an appropriation of $1.49 billion for the Corporation for National and Community Service, the largest budget in CNCS history. (For example, AmeriCorps, a well-known CNCS-administered program, will expand by 233 percent over the next eight years.) A panel discussion held on November 12, 2009 at Philanthropy New York focused on the potential opportunities for philanthropy to support the development of national service as a vehicle for building a diverse leadership pipeline in the New York City nonprofit sector.
To build a diverse nonprofit and civic leadership pipeline, funders must consider how to support and involve grassroots youth organizing groups. Research from youth activism in education reform shows that organizing provides an avenue for leadership development, social analysis, and political engagement that lasts beyond high school. Youth organizing is a development model that provides opportunities for young people of color to be agents of change and often leads to continued involvement in service and activism.
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