What is the Youth Grantmakers Initiative?
Youth Grantmakers is a permanent, youth co-led grantmaking body made up of Baltimore City youth ages 16-24. Its grantmaking structure was developed by the inaugural cohort, which selected its first grantees in 2022. Now in its second cycle, the Youth Grantmakers have allocated a total of more than $1 million dollars in funding to older youth programming.
The Youth Grantmakers determine grant criteria and expectations for each cycle. They also serve as program officers during the grant period, working with grantees (funded partners) to identify and provide capacity-building efforts that improve funded partners’ abilities to serve Baltimore City’s older youth and address other areas of growth.
2024 Grant Recipients
The grants, known collectively as “A Promise II BMORE: BMORE on Purpose,” were used to support bold workforce and post-secondary employment programs that exemplified our values and vision for equitable opportunities that allow youth to test, do, become certified, and become employed.
The second cohort of Youth Grantmakers developed their RFP, reviewed dozens of applications, and conducted interviews and site visits before making their final funding decisions. The grants will allow the organizations to serve 370 additional youth and young adults, ages 14-24, throughout Baltimore City, primarily in neighborhoods known as the “Black Butterfly.”
With $3.3 million in requests and $500,000 to distribute, this process demonstrates the need for more investment in older youth in Baltimore.
B-360 Baltimore
B-360 uses dirt bike culture to end the cycle of poverty, disrupt the prison pipeline, and build bridges in communities. Our grant for their
STEM Workforce Development and Diversion Program will fund 155 training opportunities in bike engineering, culminating in employment opportunities.
Code in the Schools
Ten students will be funded through the DataTrail course, which is designed to help those with less experience with computers and computer science move into family-supporting careers in data science. At the end of the program, participants will be connected with paid internships and receive job search assistance.
Dance & BMore Programs
Dance & BMore Programs’ AMP Up is a wraparound career readiness program that integrates academic pursuits with real-world professional development. The Youth Grantmakers’ grant will fund a total of 15 training opportunities in three tracks: Dance Teaching, Sound Tech, and Theater Production.
Elocin Global Logistics
The EGL Pre-Apprenticeship Training Program empowers young adults with knowledge and training in transportation and logistics, the YGs are proud to be funding 15 training opportunities that will culminate in earned Commercial Drivers Licenses and federal requirements, as well as job placement.
Inheritance Academy
This grant will fund 20 young adults through Inheritance Academy’s Academy Builders Junior program. This childcare and entrepreneurship program, which includes state credentialing in childcare and/or support through college entry, career advancement, and leadership training, will result in job offers at the successful completion of the program.
Natural Born Champions
Thirty participants will take part in the Mentorship Pathways program through this grant. Each will team with a mentor as they explore a wide variety of potential career pathways, choose an internship path, gain work experience and certifications in areas such as CPR/First Aid, Food Handling, Small Business Licensing, and Esthetic Licensing, and create and implement a career launch plan.
Phase 3 Training Corp.
Funding from the Youth Grantmakers’ initiative will cover 30 students as they learn about careers in the building and construction trades, gain hands-on experience in areas like elevator mechanics and HVAC, become OSHA-certified, and are placed with employment partners with the potential of up to $34-per-hour starting salaries through Phase 3 Training Corporation’s Young Builders program.
Requity Foundation
Requity Foundation’s Carver House Pilot Project is a school-based program that provides integral hands-on learning in the construction and building trades as students apply classroom learning to the renovation of an abandoned building in their neighborhood. The program includes OSHA certification and the application of energy efficient modalities.This grant will fund 95 student slots.
Poem by Cohort I Youth Grantmaker Charity Fisher
Initiative Funders
Sheldon K. Caplis
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Decision-Making Reimagined
National research has shown that better-quality programs lead to better student outcomes. Baltimore’s Promise believes that improving program quality requires the voices of and decision-making by young people and their families. When this kind of proximate decision-making is embraced, those with the most knowledge of the issue at hand shape, co-develop, and determine the ways resources are used and where they are deployed. And, when funding is pooled, resources are leveraged to create greater impact. With both proximate decision making and pooled funding in place, we can have more high-quality, adequately funded opportunities responding to youth and community needs, improving outcomes for Baltimore City’s young people.