By Howard Knoll, Senior Director, Casey Family Programs
Families who take seasonal driving trips often fall into two categories—those who want to get to their destination in the quickest time and those who want to take the “scenic route” and don’t consider time something to be conquered.
In philanthropy, it is easy to view ourselves as those who want to get to our destination in the most direct way. We are often knowledgeable about the issues and rely on nonprofit organizations to do the work and show results in a timely manner. This summer, a group of foundations that make up the New York Juvenile Justice Initiative decided to step back, take a “leap of faith,” and take a “road less traveled.” We asked ourselves this question: “How can foundations create organizational structures that support a youth voice in our work?” We can by engaging youth—so that we can look at particular issues through the lens of someone who has been personally impacted. This is not news to service providers, but it may be a developing area of work for foundations. And engaging foundation leaders so that they can develop that process step in their grantmaking can positively influence their perspectives on grants and awards.
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