OUR MISSION
YFYI's Mission Statement

YFYI is a youth-led program that seeks to foster young San Franciscans with the opportunity to expand on their leadership goals by funding their project ideas. You bring the ideas! We bring the tools and support!

Youth Funding Youth Ideas (YFYI) is a program of C.H.A.L.K., Communities in Harmony Advocating for Learning and Kids. C.H.A.L.K. is a youth led San Francisco project providing a range of youth services with a specific focus on transformative youth development and employment. CHALK specializes in providing leadership and training opportunities to youth with high-risk characteristics.

Youth, ages 14-17, recruited through this agency make up a paid Youth Grant-Making group. The YFYI Staff is responsible for making all grant decisions regarding youth led projects, as well as providing support and assistance to young people applying for grants. The youth staff are also responsible for evaluating the progress of leadership development of the youth involved in the grant making group and how well the youth led projects are growing. The Staff receives extensive and ongoing training to enhance their ability to make funding decisions and support youth seeking grants.

The youth members on the staff focus on targeting high risk youth throughout San Francisco Communities. Such as in their neighborhoods, schools, and community based organizations. Projects that do not fit into one of these three groups can also be considered.

Young people, ages 13-17, who are interested in receiving funding for a project they have designed, have a variety of options for receiving support as they apply. Youth Program Officers assist grant-seeking youth by providing individual support for applications to help develop ideas, design projects and complete grant applications. Once the project idea is solidified, a young person can apply using a hand written or typed application. Along with the application, applicants have the option to present their ideas/projects through a verbal presentation.

As grant proposals come in, supervisors designate a Program Officer and Youth Evaluator to each project to make sure the project has the support it needs. After funding, the designated Program Officer and Youth Evaluator continue support and monitoring of the project to ensure that money is being used appropriately, and that all the information about the project is being documented.