Youth for Community Improvement (YCI) promotes civic leadership through a teen-led experience resulting in grants to local nonprofits working in areas of high importance to young people.

YCI is a youth-led program where students come together to identify community issues they care about and award $25,000 - $40,000 in grants to nonprofit organizations working to solve those issues.

This fall and winter program presents an opportunity for students to work together to make a difference in their communities while also building critical leadership and communication skills by facilitating meetings, developing shared goals, developing public speaking skills and decision making through consensus building. Together they engage in community research, develop and implement a grants program, create evaluation criteria and build their network of peers while gaining access to local leaders.

YCI has been supporting young people across Worcester County as civic leaders since 1998. The program has graduated over 225 students, and has awarded over $350,000 in grants to local nonprofit organizations.

This is an excellent opportunity for high school students who want to experience and learn about leadership, and help make a difference in their community!

One of the things I appreciated about YCI was that the program fostered youth voice and promoted youth leadership. Since the program was entirely youth-led, we made all the decisions about the applications by ourselves without interventions from [GWCF staff]. I loved the autonomy and responsibility we received because it made our philanthropic work feel more authentic and meaningful.

- Gerry Qiu, YCI Class of 2023

Eligibility

All high school students in Worcester County who are interested in developing leadership skills, enjoying working collaboratively with others, and who are willing to commit to participating enthusiastically and thinking critically to create a real, effective change in their communities.

YCI students are typically in their sophomore or junior year of high school, but we encourage all years of students to apply. We believe that every student, no matter your year or amount of experience with extracurriculars, has a valuable voice and can contribute meaningfully.

Participation Requirements

YCI will meet on the following dates at Greater Worcester Community Foundation in downtown Worcester. We expect that all students who apply can attend and participate in the program fully. A transportation stipend is provided.

Students can participate for two years, and will serve in a further leadership capacity for their second year.

2024-25 Cohort

Meet the 2024-25 Cohort!

This practice is driven by the core belief that everyone, and in particular young people, possess wisdom, strengths, and informative experiences to contribute to the field of philanthropy.

- Sarah Shugrue, Director of Grantmaking & Capacity Building, GWCF