Youth Making Change (YMC) is a teen-led grant-making program that provides young people with the opportunity to engage directly in organized philanthropy (grant giving). There are two YMC Boards, one meets in Santa Maria and the other in Santa Barbara, and both are led by teens, ages 13-19. Each board gives out $15,000 in grants to youth-led projects that impact young people in Santa Barbara County. They create and conduct an entire grant cycle and then share with their communities what they learned as grant-makers and philanthropists. Each YMC board is led by two Youth Facilitators, each a previous YMC board member. Facilitators assist the board in meeting their objectives by providing an experienced perspective on the grant-making process. Since 2008, YMC has awarded $306,956 to over 150 youth-led groups throughout Santa Barbara County. Youth Making Change is a program of the Fund for Santa Barbara and is inspired by the Santa Barbara Foundation's Katherine Harvey Fellows Class of 2006-2007.
Our 2020/2021 Cohorts!
For a list of historical YMC Grant recipients click here!
For more information:
David Melendrez, North County Program Coordinator (805) 922-1707 x 200 | david@fundforsantabarbara.org
Tania Reyes, South County Program Coordinator (805) 962-9164 x 108 | Tania@fundforsantabarbara.org
Youth Making Change Testimonials
YMC Member: “I enjoyed finding out some of the needs in the community and seeing the programs people have started to deal with them”
Parent: “I watched my daughter gain more self-esteem and become more assertive. She knows her voice is important and now takes steps to make sure she is heard”
Community Member: “The thing I love about this program: it makes it clear that our youth are NOT the future leaders of the world. Rather they are the leaders NOW. YMC allows youth the opportunity to lead, to get other youth involved in learning about and applying for grants, and allows our youth-led community development programs additional funding to better impact our youth.”